Draco Malfoy and the Half Blood Princess
by FeatherSun1638
Summary: Coming into his sixth year at Hogwarts, the young Draco Malfoy wishes for a peaceful and normal school year. What happens when a new girl is thrown in his way? What if this mysterious new girl turns out to be his favorite professor's daughter? DM/OC Rewritten.
1. Chapter 1: Meet Audrina

Draco Malfoy sat in his room quietly waiting for Blinkey to call him down for dinner. He was dressed in a plain black button up long-sleeved shirt with khaki slacks. Checking his watch for what seemed like the hundreth time, he sighed. He was growing increasingly impatient at the slow pace that time seemed to be moving at. Soon enough, the young Malfoy picked himself off of his green silk covered bed spread and began to pace around his room.

He was nervous. Despite being a Malfoy, he was unmistakably nervous. His parents had informed him at the breakfast table that they would be having special guests joining them for dinner tonight. Who these "special guests" were- he had no clue whatsoever. He only hoped that it would be someone other than the Greengrass family, who had set their hearts on whoring one of their precious daughters to him in the hopes of coming into the Malfoy fortune and family name. _Yes, anyone was better than them, _he thought,_ well..except for you-know-who._

As he lost himself in his own thoughts, Draco missed the unmistakable _pop _that announced Blinkey's arrival into his bedroom.

"Mistress wishes to inform Master that dinner will begin soon."

After jumping back into his skin, Draco addressed the house elf with a nod and put on a blank face to cover up his emotions. With one last look at himself in the mirror, he successfully managed to wash any trace of uncertainty off of his face. And then he was off to whatever doom awaited him.

As he made his way down the stairs of the Malfoy Manor he took note of the way his hands began to sweat slightly and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He shook the feeling of shameful fear and began down the hallway to the grand dining room.

The floo sounded and like clockwork, he heard his mother call out to him to let the guests in. He reluctantly moved towards the fireplace to open their floo when he remembered that he did not know who was at the other side of the floo. It could be _anyone. _He was not a house elf, he had no way of knowing who stood on the other side until they stepped out. Preparing himself for the unexpected, he reached into his pocket and grabbed hold of his wand.

Whoever it was, they would _not _catch him off guard.

But nothingcould have possibly prepared him for _this_. Well, at least it wasn't Voldemort. That's always a plus.

He had been so prepared to hex whatever threat came his way. He had been so ready to defend himself. What he was not expecting was for a girl to tumble her way out of the fireplace and into his arms.

"What the.."

"Dios mio..I'm so sorry. Oh I'm so sorry! My father, he just pushed me through the floo and I was not expecting to get here so quickly and..oh my Merlin I didn't mean to.."

But Malfoy was too shocked to say anything to her. Who was this girl? And where was she from? She had an accent that definitely was not English. Who was her father? What business did they have here? _What the.._

A moment after she began frantically apologizing for tripping over herself, her father arrived with much more elegance and poise than his teenage daughter.

"Professor? What are you doing here?"

If it was possible, Draco was even more gobsmacked than he was when the clumsy girl practically fell at his feet. Speaking of the girl, he realized that she was still unsteady in his arms and once he helped her steady herself, his brain took notice of what she had told him. Her father pushed her through the floo...her father...Snape..

Snape was her father.

The realization broke the emotional mask that he usually wore in front of other people and he was now bumbling like an idiot.

"Wait..whoa. You! Her! What?", was all he could manage to spit out.

"Draco, please mind where you place your hands. That is my daughter, mind you."

The Malfoy heir then looked at where his hands were and with a blush found that they were on the girl's hips. After he apologized to her for what seemed like the fifth time, he finally looked up to her face.

And Merlin, she was beautiful. With her long, sleek, black, voluminous curls cascading down her back and her big green eyes, he could not bring himself to look away. His eyes were drawn to her every feature- from the arch of her eyebrows to the cute, button-like qualities of her nose, to the fullness of her pink lips. How could someone so beautiful be even remotely related to Snape?

It was in that moment that his parents decided to make an entrance and his mother's voice called out to him.

"Draco, why don't you be a darling little host and take Miss Audrina to the dining room?"

"Uh. Sure, mum. I'll do that."

This girl, Audrina, gave him a funny look as he composed himself and began to walk her down the hall. He hoped that she didn't notice his clammy hands as he lead her to the dining room. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?

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Audrina smiled as she awkwardly took his arm. She was so embarrassed. First, she had tripped into his arms, practically falling at his feet and then her father just had to make his arrival in that particular moment. She was mortified. Draco must have thought she was a clumsy fool. She hadn't even introduced herself and she was already falling all over him. Great.

It didn't help that her father seemed to enjoy the fact that neither she nor Draco knew how to handle the situation. He just sat back and watched with that stupid smug look on his face. He didn't even bother to apologize for pushing her into the floo in the first place! This was his fault!

She wondered if he was as nervous as she was. He probably wasn't. After all, he was the notorious Draco Malfoy. She heard so many stories about him. From what she had heard, he was a smooth-talking son of a gun. Apparently, he was a big hit with the ladies. She could see why.

As she lost herself in her own thoughts, she wondered to herself if he could feel the clamminess of her hand on his arm through his dress shirt. _I'm such a dork,_ she thought.

Suddenly, all the stories she had heard about the infamous Draco Malfoy came flooding back into her mind.

_"He is such a player," one of the girls from back home, Katrina, warned her, "He's just like any other pureblood. Except he's a Malfoy. So he gets super special treatment."_

_"How do you know he's a player?" she asked naively._

_"Because I slept with him once while we were both vacationing in Spain," she said simply, "When I woke up he was gone. No note, no nothing. I didn't even get a 'Good morning'. Trust me, he's bad news."_

Was he really like that? Did he just leave after bedding girls? Was that how the all the guys were at Hogwarts? Audrina mentally berated herself for overthinking things. She didn't even know the guy. She knew that she shouldn't be assuming things about him from a couple stories she had head in her home country.

_"Watch out for him," warned a girl named Cordelia, who up until now, had never talked to Audrina before, "He'll seem really harmless at first. But then he'll charm you out of your pants and booom! You're pregnant."_

_"He's gotten someone pregnant before?" Audrina asked scandalized. _

_"Oh. Well no. It's just an expression!"_

She pondered how she could have believed those girls in the first place. They didn't care at all for her until they discovered that she was leaving for Hogwarts to be closer to her father. They didn't really want to watch out for her well-being. They had always been catty to her in the past. What was different now?

But what if they were telling the truth? Should she be wary of the guy who was taking her through the longest hallway she had even walked down? Should she keep her guard up? Should she try to be cordial and get through this one dinner and then avoid him for the rest of the year?

Maybe she would just wing it.

* * *

**Yes, I know what you all are going to say. Why the rewrite? I know how much some of you loved the story as it was, but I felt the need to rewrite it. Not only were people complaining about Audrina not having a personality of her own, but I wasn't completely happy with how the story was. So I tweaked some things here and there and I think the story is much better now. Please give it a chance. **

**Hope you all are doing well. Happy reading!**

**-D**


	2. Chapter 2: Dinner with the Malfoys

If he was nervous before, he was nearly frantic now that he had a gorgeous girl on his arm. They were on their way to thew dinner table and Draco could not find a way to start off a conversation. What does one say to Snape's daughter? To Snape's _undeniably stunning_ daughter? What does one say to a girl in general? He wasn't used to this. Usually, girls came up to him and started talking. Then he would either tell them to get lost or he would shut them up with his lips.

_Oh stop being a wanker, _he told himself, _she's just a girl. It's not like you haven't charmed a girl before..without magic that is..so just talk to her._

The pep talk he was giving himself in his head seemed to be working as he built his confidence up enough to begin a conversation with the mysterious girl on his arm.

"So, Audrina, where are you from? I noticed your accent..". Draco trailed off as Audrina raised an eyebrow at him.

"Do you not like my accent, Draco?" She asked, a look of innocence plastered on her face.

"No! No, it's just that it's unusual..not in a bad way! I mean..it's just uncommon here. In England. And yeah".

Draco smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head while trying to figure out what to say to her next. When Audrina's nose scrunched up and she threw her head back in laughter he held his breath. Her laugh was angelic. It sounded like a song that he could play on repeat for days.

"Oh, you're cute. Yes, is it that obvious that I am not from around here? I grew up in Costa Rica so that's where the accent comes from." Her perfectly straight, white teeth were revealed to him as she smiled widely. He realized that she had dimples and could not help himself from thinking that she was so undeniably charming.

His parents walked into the dining room with a smug-looking Snape and Draco went to pull Audrina's chair out for her but then realized he did not know where she was to sit. Of course, he wanted to sit by her, but was not sure whether or not Snape would like that. Before he could make a decision, his mother interrupted his train of thought.

"Oh Audrina, you simply must come sit by me! It's been a while since I've had another girl in the house and I'd love to hear all about Costa Rica!" _Well I guess that settles things._

Draco brought her to the other side of the room so that he could seat her at the end of the table so that she could be close to his mother, who sat at the head. Once she was seated, he turned to take the seat on her opposite side and was surprised that Snape had already made a claim on it. _Of course._

"Oh Draco, it seems that we can't always get what we want." _First, Snape has a daughter, a pretty one at that, and now he's making jokes? What has the world come to?_

He grudgingly made his way to the other side of the table adjacent to his father and took a seat, where he was face to face with Audrina. He could see that her eyes were filled with mirth. _She's laughing at me. _And strangely, he did not mind one bit.

Conversation at the dinner table consisted of Audrina and Draco's mother excitedly talking about shopping, hair, nails, and all other types of girl things that girls talk about. Occasionally, Lucius and Snape would get a word in but unfortunately for Draco, he had no clue what he could contribute to the conversation. So he kept quiet. He was being successfully silent until his mother, being the meddling woman she was, included him in their enthusiastic girl talk.

"Draco dear, wouldn't it be lovely to have Audrina over for a couple of days? We could all go out to Diagon Alley to talk her for a bit of shopping and maybe you two could become better acquainted before the school year starts!"

"Of course, mum. I'd love to join on your shopping trip...", he said, with sarcasm and a bit of uncertainty on the tip of his tongue.

"Oh sweetheart don't be so glum! It'll be fun! We can go get school supplies for you and Audrina while we're at it!"

"Wait. You're going to Hogwarts?" He looked up at Audrina (quite stupidly I might add) and she nodded while dutifully chewing on a piece of steak. Her father, seeing that she could not speak for herself at the moment, spoke for her.

"Of course, where else would she go to school? She's moved in with me for good now. It makes sense for her to go to school where I can keep an eye on her." Audrina glowered at her father before swallowing the food in her mouth and looking back to Draco.

"I'm going to be a fifth year. What about you?"

"Sixth. So I guess you're going to have to be sorted into a house with the first years." He chuckled at the thought of Audrina amongst a crowd of firsties scared shitless.

"Yes, but it's not funny! And transferring to another school isn't the easiest thing in the world..especially when I know no one there." Pouting, she looked up at him and he could not help himself from playing the nice guy for once.

"Don't worry I'll just take you under my wing then. I am a Malfoy, so you shouldn't have to worry about the change of schools. I'm sure you'll be fine."

After hearing this, everyone at the table smiled. Audrina, for making a new friend, Snape, for having someone to watch over his precious daughter, Narcissa, for hopes of an upcoming relationship for the teens, and Lucius, for seeing that his son had game.

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Conversation had slowed and the adults at the table took it among themselves to talk about business, leaving Audrina and Draco to try to keep a conversation of their own going. Audrina couldn't for the life of her think of a good conversation starter so Draco took it upon himself to break the ice.

"So who is your mother?" Draco asked and Audrina looked at him, surprised with how forward he was being with his questions tonight.

"Emelia Alvarez," Audrina said between bites, "She was the potions professor at my old school."

"Was?" Draco repeated, catching her use of the past tense.

"Yes, she quit about a week ago," she explained, "She wanted to travel the world. On her own. So she sent me off to live with my father."

"She just got up and left you?" Draco questioned and put down his silverware to focus on Audrina's answer.

"No, she told me she was going on a trip prior to leaving," she said to him and also put down her utensils. Suddenly, she didn't feel like eating anymore. "She wanted to experience the world."

"Why didn't she take you with her?"

"She thinks that it would be better if I came to live with my dad," Audrina responded and lowered her eyes to her lap, where she was twiddling her thumbs, "To work out my 'daddy issues'."

Sensing that the conversation was taking a turn on the more personal side, he quickly changed the subject and asked the first question that came to mind.

"So is your mom pureblood?" he asked and then began to feel a bit nervous from her silence, "It's just that I've never heard of the name Alvarez.."

"No, she's not," Audrina finally answered, "Alvarez is a muggle name. Her mother was a witch and her father was a muggle."

Draco took a moment to digest the information he had just been given. He must have looked rude to Audrina because she cleared her throat and gave him a glare.

"Does it matter that my mother is a half-blood?" Audrina asked him, "Does it bother you that she's not pure-blood because I'm a half-blood just like her.."

She went on about how being half-blood wasn't necessarily a bad thing and Draco wondered why she was giving him a hard time about blood supremacy. She must have thought he was some sort of racist. Of course, that is what people thought of the Malfoys. His father did work at the right hand side of the Dark Lord, but not many people really knew that they didn't believe in all that blood nonsense. He honestly didn't mind if she was half-blood.

"It doesn't matter," he interrupted her rant, "At least not to me."

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Lucius Malfoy smiled to himself as he overheard the conversation that his son and Snape's daughter were having. As Snape's daughter, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to pose as a follower of the Dark Lord. She could quite possibly be the solution to the problem he was having concerning Draco joining the Dark Lord's army. Knowing that his son didn't want to be on the dark side and also knowing that Draco had essentially no choice, he quickly formulated a new plan. He would just have to run it by Severus and work out all the kinks before the plan could be put in motion.

"Draco," Narcissa called out from her seat, "Won't you show Audrina to her room? I would do it myself but I'm having the most wonderful conversation with Severus and your father."

"No problem," he said and stood up to show Audrina upstairs.

"You know," Audrina began as she looked around and realized she probably wouldn't be able to find her way back to the dining room if she tried, "I could easily get lost in your house."

"You should probably pay attention then," he said as they turned a corner, into a long and narrow hallway.

"If I actually did get lost in here I'd probably perish. You'd stumble upon my remains someday when you fancy taking a stroll around the house."

"That's pretty gory," he noted and then laughed at the weirdness of the situation. He was walking her to her door and she was talking about perishing within the halls of his home. She was ridiculous. But in an endearing sort of way. They finally reached the guest room that she would be staying in for the time being and he opened the door for her.

"Well here we are," he announced and motioned for her to come in, "I hope you like it. Mother said she prepared it especially for you."

Audrina left him speechless as she closed the door in his face. The door opened once more and Audrina shouted a "Thanks!" before closing it once more.


	3. Chapter 3: Meet my Fellow Slytherins

The next day was something else. Draco had to say that although shopping with Audrina did not sound like such a bad idea, shopping with her and his mother did. Not only was he dragged through every store they wanted to go to, he also had to carry all of their bags. _Why do women shop so much?_

There were some enjoyable moments, like when his mother met up with Mrs. Zabini for lunch at some fancy bistro and he and Audrina went to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer..or two.

"One more butterbeer. Come on."

"No! You are such a light weight it is unbelievable."

"Dray, come on!"

"You're tipsy! Don't give me that face...oh would you look at the time! We have to go!"

"Oh wait! I have to pick up an order at this shop down the street. Come with?" As much as Draco did not want to be roped into another round of shopping, he consented. He told himself it was because she was not okay enough to go by herself. Besides, she was being really loud and people were beginning to stare. The gentlemanly thing to do was to accompany her and then take her back home. _Right._

"Where are we going?"

"The shop is right there! Ooh here it is!" And with unexpected speed, Audrina trotted down the cobblestone street and into the boutique. How she managed to not break an ankle in those heels, he would never know. She was stumbling over a crack in the road but managed to keep her balance and brush it off as if it never happened. She was a funny one. He would give her that.

Once he entered the store, Draco looked for Audrina over the clothing racks and saw her head of black hair at the front desk. As he walked towards her, he looked around and noticed something weird about his surroundings..

"I'm here to pick up my order. My name is Audrina. My last name? Alvarez? Snape? I'm not so sure these days. Thank you so much!" Audrina said in a somewhat slurred and overly loud voice. Once Audrina had taken her order from the lady at the counter, she turned to leave and saw Draco frozen in the middle of the store.

"Draco? Helloooo?"

"You realize this is a lingerie shop, right?"

"Yea! I just picked up an order!"

"You came to pick up an order for yourself?"

"No they're for your mom!" she yelled out and began to giggle uncontrollably. Of course, she was joking but before she could say so, Draco had already begun to look sick.

"Relaaaax. I was just joking! They're for me!" Once she saw him sigh in relief, she half dragged him out of the shop so that they could apparate all of their- mostly her stuff to the house. Because she was staying with the Malfoy's for the week before school started, they only needed to make one stop.

He moved to take her hand in his and she could feel the callused digits firmly squeeze her small hand to warn her that they would be apparating in a few seconds. After she felt the sensation disappear, she finally opened her eyes and saw that they were now in a beautiful room. her room. Well, for the remainder of the week, that is.

The bedroom was painted lavender and smelled of it too. The large bed was donned in different shades of purple and the furniture was all white. She could see her luggage piled in the corner. She walked all around the room to take it all in. It was as if she was seeing it for the first time again. Once she breathed out, she heard a chuckle come from behind her. Draco was leaning at the door and with arms crossed, she could not help but think that he was super cute.

There he stood, tall and proud, as cocky as a Malfoy should be. His platinum blonde hair shined in the light and fell into his eyes. As he pushed it away from his face, she got a look at his arms. Muscular and toned, she was no doubt appreciative of the male in front of her.

"Get changed. We're going swimming." he threw her a small bottle of pepper up potion and then he left.

"Quite the gentleman you are!" She shouted at him as he made his way down the hall. She could still hear his chuckling even though he was long gone. She downed the potion in one gulp and gagged at the foul taste. Then his words began to sunk in. They were going swimming.

Audrina was desperately searching for her favorite bathing suit. She began to carelessly throw bikini tops and bottoms all over the room until she found the right one. The light blue bandeau bikini rimmed with small pearls was hidden under her vast collection of swim pieces. Grinning in victory as she grabbed the top and bottom, she ran off into the room's connected bathroom.

Draco was impatiently waiting for Audrina to come down the steps. After twenty minutes of waiting in agony, he decided to go ahead and head off to the pool. His friends were already there anyways..

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Audrina had no idea where she was going. She was lost in one of the many halls of the manor. Draco just had to apparate her straight to her room, didn't he? Now she was hopelessly lost in his ridiculously big house. She should just give up now. The problem was, she had no idea how to get back to her room and because she was not a Malfoy or one of their house elves, she couldn't apparate on the property. Great. She felt like screaming.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH! SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE?" She felt so dumb getting lost in the Malfoy's house, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Just then, Blinkey appeared.

"Miss needs help? Blinkey will help Miss." Audrina felt so relieved that none of the Malfoy's had found her stranded and helpless. Thank goodness for the house elves!

"Oh yes, Blinkey. You see. I need help getting to the pool. Do you think you could take me there?"

"Of course Miss! Blinkey would be very happy to help Miss!"

"Thank you so much, Blinkey!" Within the moment, Blinkey had successfully taken Audrina to the Malfoy pool, where Draco appeared to be throwing a party. Draco finally spotted her and jogged over to greet her.

"Audrina! Took you long enough!" Audrina tried to keep her eyes off of his sculpted chest long enough so that she could still yell at him for abandoning her in his own house.

"You git! You left me for dead! I could have died of starvation if Blinkey hadn't rescued me from your labyrinth of a house!" Draco just laughed and went over to put his arm around the petite girl.

"I'm sorry I guess I didn't think you needed my help. It won't happen again, I promise...did you wear heels to a pool party?" He raised a perfect blonde eyebrow at her and she smacked his arm.

"Yes! They're sandal heels and I don't like feeling short. I already feel short with you over sized English folk." He laughed again as she pouted and crossed her arms at him.

"You know you have to take them off to get in the water.." With his arm still around her, he walked them to the pool chairs and handed her a Slytherin green towel. She was so caught up in Draco that she almost didn't notice that there were other people there.

"Draco, I don't know anyone here." Suddenly, she felt insecure. She had no friends here except for Draco and she couldn't hog the host all to herself.

"Well, come now, I have to introduce you to my friends then." Draco looked at her expectantly and she walked with him towards a group of tall and intimidating Slytherins. Audrina berated herself for acting like a scared puppy. They were just people, just like her. They were just Slytherins, just like the Malfoys and her father. They couldn't be that bad, could they?

In the worst case scenario, they could be prejudiced and exclude her because of her blood status. It couldn't get much worse than that.

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Draco's friends were surprisingly friendly. Well, the boys were. It may have been because they thought she was pretty. Either way, she made some new friends. Draco insisted that she get in the pool already so that they could play a game of chicken.

"Get in the damn water, woman!"

"Charming, Draco." She laughed nonetheless and went to her pool chair where she sat down and took off her heels. She felt naked without them. In reality, she was only 5"1. Sighing, she got up and took off her cut off shorts and tank top. Clad in her pearled bandeau, she made her way to the side of the pool and dipped her feet into the water.

"What is that?" Draco asked, pointing at her navel.

"Oh this?", she pointed at her belly ring, "it's a belly ring. It's quite popular where I come from. It's a muggle thing."

"Is it? It looks nice." She was surprised. She didn't think that Draco Malfoy would approve of a muggle piercing. She smiled and reached her arms out for him to carry her into the water. He laughed and grabbed her by the waist. He froze when she wrapped her legs around his waist and reached up to tie her hair.

"You good?" he asked.

"Great. You ready?" she countered with a smirk on her face.

"For what?"

"Chicken, you dummy. Now who am I going to be up against?" Her eyes scanned the area, analyzing her possible opponents. There was Parkinson, who had made it clear to Audrina that she and Draco would be getting back together any day now, Astoria, who had one eye on Draco's bum and the other glaring at her the entire time, and the other Greengrass girl, whatever her name was.

"Well, Pansy looks about ready to kill you right about now so how about her?"

"Your crazy ex-girlfriend who hates me? Let's do this." He shook his head at her and cracked a half smile.

"Pansy! We're playing chicken! You're up!"

Pansy, who had thought that Draco had invited her to climb up on his shoulders for the game, had quickly made her way to him and latched onto his back. Watching the girl struggle to get on Draco's shoulders was funny in itself but watching Draco struggle to get her off of his back was hysterical. Between her laughs, Audrina managed to tell Draco that she could find another partner.

"Draco..haha..it's okay..ooh god..okay.. I can find another partner!" Quickly, Audrina looked around for a suitable partner to help her take Draco and Pansy down. She saw Crabbe..no, Goyle..hell no, Flint..eh, Pucey..okay, Nott..maybe, Zabini..now we're talking.

The tanned Italian was the perfect partner. He was of the same build and height as Draco so she wouldn't have to worry about him not being strong enough to support her. Not that she was big, she was just paranoid.

"Zabini! Be my partner?" Once Blaise looked over at her she nudged her head towards Draco and Pansy and he laughed. Draco was struggling to untangle Pansy's hands from his hair and Pansy was trying her hardest not to fall off of his shoulders. He wasn't making it easy for her.

"I got ya!" He replied and ran over to the side of the pool and jumped in, effectively splashing Draco and Pansy, by the sounds of her shrill squeals.

Once he got to Audrina, he began to lower himself into the water so that Audrina could get onto his shoulders easily, but she surprised him by jumping up and gracefully pulling herself up so that she comfortably situated herself atop of his shoulders.

"Damn, Alvarez, how'd you do that?" He asked, clearly surprised that she was strong enough to pull that off.

"I'm not frail, Zabini. I work out!" She laughed and then braced herself for when Blaise began to move them throughout the water and towards the middle of the pool. She kept her balance and soon they met Draco and Pansy in the middle. Nott was acting as the referee and would blow the whistle when the game began. He established some rules before they started though.

"Alright, ladies, you know the rules. Well, maybe you don't. Anyways, no hair pulling, scratching, hexing, or anything like that, okay? Okay." And he blew the whistle.

Blaise was acting as the perfect base. Whenever she would move off to the side, he would counter her movement so that she wouldn't fall off. Draco, on the other hand, didn't give a damn if Pansy fell so he wasn't much of a help. Audrina reached out her hands and grasped onto Pansy's arms, and shifted the pug-faced girl almost to the point where she fell off. Once Pansy knew she was going to lose because she couldn't get her arms free, she looked Audrina right in the eye and spit in her face. Shocked, Audrina let go and pulled back, furiously wiping her eye, where the spit had landed.

"Pansy!" The three boys shouted simultaneously.

"Did you really just spit on me? You disgusting little.." Once the spit was wiped from her eye and Pansy was looking smug, Audrina came back with a left hook that effectively knocked Pansy right off of Draco's shoulders.

Time slowed and the people at the party could not believe what had just happened. Once Pansy had surfaced the pool and regained her senses, she climbed out of the pool to nurse her nose, which was now bleeding. Her high pitched crying brought the parents out to the pool. Everyone was brought back to reality.

"Did that really happen, Crabbe?"

"Did what happen, Goyle?"

"That, you idiots!" Pucey screamed, pointing at Pansy, who was still crying hysterically, and then moving to point to Audrina, who was still fuming on Blasie's shoulders.

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"I'm not even sorry."

It was all Audrina said to Blaise and Draco before climbing off of Blaise's back and going to get her clothes off of the pool chair, which was conveniently, right next to where Pansy was standing. Narcissa and Snape had come to determine if the girl's nose needed to be set back into place or not.

"Get back, you savage beast! Stay back!" She screamed at Audrina before cowering behind Narcissa. Audrina let out a low growl and moved towards her clothes when her father stepped in front of her.

"Dad, I just need my clothes. Move." Snape moved to the side and she grabbed her clothes and made her way across the backyard to the house. Sensing that she needed to cool off, no one followed.

Once she was out of sight, Snape demanded that someone fill them in.

"Will someone kindly inform the Malfoys and me of what exactly happened? Why is Miss Parkinson's nose broken?"

It was Draco who emerged from the pool and began to explain as he grabbed Audrina's forgotten towel and dried himself.

"You see..we were playing chicken in the pool and Audrina was playing Pansy. Pansy was losing quickly and so to gain the upper hand, she spit...in Audrina's face.." A moment of silence followed and Draco was worried that Snape might avada Pansy on his family's property. Suprisingly, it was his own mother who spoke first.

"Pansy, leave." Narcissa ignored the girl's whimpers and excuses and moved to calm Snape if need be.

"Severus? Severus, say something." No one dared speak. After what seemed like minutes of waiting, Snape finally broke the silence.

"Audrina broke that girl's nose didn't she?" he asked to no one in particular. A series of unanimous yesses followed and he walked off in the direction of the house.

As Snape retreated into the Manor, Narcissa went to join her husband under the gazebo behind the pool. Once she repeated the story to him, he simply looked at her and declared that the girl was most definitely Slytherin. She responded with a "damn right" and they too, returned to the house.

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Once the Malfoy's went inside, the boys and the Greengrass sisters were the only ones remaining. Everyone had gotten out of the pool and Draco went to call a house elf to clean the blood out of the pool.

"So I guess the party's over then?"

"Yes, Blaise. So you all should be heading home. I'll see you guys at school next week."

After his friends had flooed home, he looked up at the grandfather clock and decided that it would be a good time to go to bed. After checking that Snape had already left and his parents were in bed, he made his way back to his bedroom.

When he opened his door, he immediately jumped onto his bed with a loud "thump". Upon hearing light laughter in the room, he lifted his head to see that Audrina was sitting in his reading chair in the corner of his room.

"Whoa. How did you find my room?"

"Blinkey," she replied simply.

"Oh. So," he awkwardly responded.

"So...let's go out tonight," she said, standing up from where she was sitting, "I'll get all dolled up and ready."

"Now?" he said as he stared at her incredulously. He could not seem to fathom how someone could bounce back so quickly, let alone _go out_ on the town or whatever it is she had in mind.

"Yes! Now! Go get ready because we're going dancing." And with that, she swaggered her way out the door while Draco eyed the way her hips swayed with each stride.


	4. Chapter 4: Take Me Home Tonight

Once she had shut the door behind her, Audrina scurried off to her room in the other hallway silently thanking Blinkey for teaching her the ways around the gigantic manor without getting lost. She finally reached her room and quickly moved to lay out the perfect outfit for the evening. Once everything was set in place, she went off into the bathroom to shower.

After finishing her shower, she efficiently towel dried herself and magicked her hair into sleek, bouncy curls. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she smirked and ran off into the bedroom. Hastily applying sweet scented lotions and perfumes, the young woman ran around the room once or twice in an effort to dry her skin so that she could get dressed. Reminding herself that she was indeed, a witch, she chuckled before grabbing her wand from the vanity and drying herself with a flick of her wrist.

Audrina was a young woman of confidence and her secret to that confidence lied underneath her clothes- literally. She felt that as long as she was clad in the nicest underwear, she would be at her best, whatever the occasion may be. It was not about sex appeal but more so for the feeling of riskiness that gave her an adrenaline rush whenever she felt the wind tickle her skin.

She felt empowered as she slipped on her favorite black lace set.

Turning around to look at herself in the full length mirror, Audrina took a moment to acknowledge the butterflies in her stomach. She knew that she definitely liked Draco because he was fun to be around, but she did not know if she had any feelings of the romantic sort for him. She knew she was attracted to him- no doubt about that, but it was still too soon for her to tell. In short, she was nervous about how this night would turn out.

She had gone dancing with a guy before, back in Costa Rica. She had the time of her life and when he went to drive her home, he didn't seem satisfied enough with just a kiss. So she gave him what he wanted. In short, the guy turned out to be a complete git and didn't bother to call or text. Yes, he was muggle but that didn't soften the pain that she felt inside from feeling so used. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she wiped away a stray tear and took a deep breath.

Audrina then quickly stepped into her dress, a short, one shoulder red dress, and zipped herself up. She then stepped over to her jewelry box and picked out her favorite rings and bracelets to accessorize herself. Afterward, she picked up her make up bag and began applying light shadow, winged eyeliner, and red lipstick. She was knee deep in her closet looking for the right pair of shoes when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" she called out.

Draco stepped in to the room, dressed in a black dress shirt, black slacks, a black belt, and black shoes. He was devilishly handsome.

"Are you still not ready, Audrina?" he questioned while she continued to throw shoes around the room. She had managed to find one of the shoes she was looking for but was having trouble locating its pair.

"I just need to find my shoe. Hold on." she said, glaring at the pile of high heeled shoes on the floor. Draco eyed her shoes and laughed.

"Is that all you own? Heels?"

"Don't laugh. And no, I do own running shoes and oxfords if you must know."

Standing up, Audrina put her hands on her hips and glowered at the pile of shoes once more. Gasping in realization, she grabbed her wand and simply accioed the other shoe. She laughed at her forgetfulness and moved to the bed so that she could put on her shoes. Before she reached her destination, she bumped into Draco's chest and nearly fell on her bum.

"Ouch," she cried out.

"Sorry, didn't see you there, what with you being four feet tall and all," he chortled at her as she scrunched her nose up at him in distaste, "I guess that's why you own all those high heels, huh?"

"Ha-ha. Not all of us can be giants like you, Mr. 6-foot," she mockingly said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hey. Six-foot-one," he said, smirking, "and just how tall are you?"

"Five- foot-one. Bullocks, you're a whole foot taller than me!"she exclaimed as Draco grabbed one of her shoes and lifted it up over his head, "Hey! Give that back!"

"You'll have to come get it if you really want it!" he yelled, obviously enjoying himself. Audrina narrowed her eyes and jumped on him, climbing up his torso to grab her shoe. Draco, who was obviously shocked that she had jumped him, was not prepared to support her and fell backwards, onto the plush purple bed behind him. He was so shocked that he almost didn't notice that Audrina was now straddling him on her bed. _Almost._

She reached up and grabbed her shoe, finally realizing the position they were in and felt her cheeks flush. She looked down at him and caught a whiff of his cologne. He smelled like a man.

"You smell nice."

"You look nice."

And then she awkwardly removed herself from his person and sat on the edge of the bed, slipping her shoes on. Taking a deep breath, she stood up, reached her hand out for him to grab, and announced that they would be on their way now.

As he touched her hand he could feel the familiar pull as they apparated to their location.

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Audrina smiled as they appeared in an alley across the street from a muggle dance club. Still holding Draco's hand, she pulled him along with her as she ran to get in line. The bouncers allowed them to cut in line, giving Audrina appreciative looks, and the two made their way inside.

"Audrina!" Draco shouted over the music, "This place is muggle!"

Rolling her eyes at him, she turned around and gave him an expectant look.

"Yes! Muggles are fun!" she stated, somewhat worried that he wouldn't want to be around the non-magical folk, "You don't mind, do you?"

Draco swallowed his pride and shook his head. He didn't really care if they were muggles or not. It was just that he had never been in a room full of them so he didn't know how to act around them. Deciding that he wouldn't have to interact with them as long as he stayed with Audrina, he allowed her to drag him to the dance floor.

He laughed at how Audrina brightened up when her "jam" came on and observed how freely she moved, not caring about anything but the beat of the music. He was affected by her essence- it made him want to dance too. So he did.

After what seemed like hours of non-stop dancing, Audrina stopped to tell him that she wanted a drink. She told him to wait at one of the tables so that she could fetch them some refreshments. His eyes were glued to her figure as she walked away.

"Is that your girlfriend?" someone asked.

Draco turned to where the voice had come from and saw a skinny blonde girl to his left. She was dressed in a tight fitting black dress that looked as if it was cutting off her blood flow. She had heavily done make up and reeked of cigarettes.

"No," he said, "Just a friend."

The girl, who seemed to think that she had a chance with him, proceeded to feel up his arm as he anxiously awaited Audrina's return. He didn't know how to handle the situation so he pretended as if he didn't notice the girl's advances towards him.

Nervously looking at his watch for the fifth time, he looked over the crowd for a head of black curls. The girl hanging off of his arm didn't seem too happy with him ignoring her. Tugging his chin towards her with her pointer finger, she spoke directly in his ear.

"Prettyboy," she cooed, "Why don't we get to know each other better.." Whilst touching his hair, the girl laid her hand on his thigh and moved it up slowly towards his crotch. Draco, who was more than uncomfortable with the situation, jumped up and ran towards the bar, hoping to lose the touchy woman in the crowd.

Pushing his way through the rowdy group of muggles, he realized that they weren't as loathesome as they once seemed to him. They were pretty much like him really, just incapable of producing magic. Keeping that in mind, he finally made it to the bar where he saw several men buying drinks for Audrina. She seemed to notice him as well and waved for him to come over.

"Draco! Come! All these nice men bought drinks so we don't have to pay!" she yelled excitedly, "How sweet is that?"

Draco was wary of the men who looked at Audrina with hunger in their eyes. They didn't seem nice- they looked starved. Despite his feelings of wariness, he agreed with her half-heartedly.

"Very sweet. Very sweet of them to do so," he said simply.

A tall man who had stubble growing from his chin stepped towards the couple of friends and asked Audrina to dance.

"Oh, that's very nice of you to ask but I'm with my friend and we're about to have a drink," she replied in hopes of not hurting the man's feelings.

The man seemed to not accept no for an answer. He insisted that she could spare him a dance and grabbed her by the wrist. As she struggled to slip from his firm grip, Draco noticed her predicament and was angered by the man's actions.

"Unhand her!" he shouted, feeling silly at his choice of words. _Unhand her, _he thought, _I'm an arse._

Draco's outburst provided to be the perfect moment for Audrina's escape. The man was not paying attention to her as he was too busy glaring at her platinum-haired friend so she took the heel of her shoe and stomped as hard as she could on the man's big toe. As he yelped in pain, he released her arm and she reached out to grab Draco's hand. They ran out of the club together and back into the alley in which they came. Fumbling with her dress to make sure that she was decent, she turned to Draco to let him know that she was ready to apparate back to the manor. _Why isn't he apparating us away?_

"I thought you said she wasn't your girlfriend, Prettyboy," a voice spoke so cold that she felt chills go up her spine.

Before either Draco or Audrina could respond, a broken beer bottle was thrown at Audrina's legs. She hissed in pain as the glass broke her skin and she instinctively went down into a squat to protect her legs from further attacks. She felt Draco reach down to pick her up. It all happened so quickly that it didn't register in her mind that he had lifted her up with only one hand.

"What the hell was that for?" Audrina screamed out once she was up on her feet again. She was really getting tired of girls attacking her out of no where. While she was used to girls picking on her, she had yet to get the hang of handling situations where she was physically challenged by primal females. This was just not her day._  
_

Ignoring the masculine hand on her waist, she approached the crazed woman and landed a kick to her shin. Once the strange girl was on the ground, rolling over in pain as she held her leg closer to her body, Audrina turned to Draco and motioned for him to follow her into the next alley. Hopefully no one would be waiting for them there. She gritted her teeth as she felt blood trickle down her legs.

"Take me back" she ordered and he dutifully complied.

Instead of apparating the girl back to her own room, he brought her back to his. Upon realizing this, Audrina was about to speak when Draco shushed her.

"I have pain potion in my bathroom," he said, "That looks like it really hurts. We need to clean it too."

He retreated into his connected bathroom and came back with a vial of pain potion and a first aid kit. He placed the vial in her hands and she downed it in one gulp. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she watched as he got on his knees and removed her shoes for her. He placed her small feet in his hands and declared that he didn't know "why she bothered with heels" if they left "marks like _this"_ and moved his attentions to her knees. He cleaned up the scrapes and cuts and stuck band aids on the wounds. He then moved onto the deeper cuts from the glass and looked genuinely pained as he cleaned them and bandaged her up.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" she asked him suddenly feeling shy.

She had thought that he was going to refuse her request but he simply stood up from the floor and walked to his dresser and pulled out an old Slytherin jersey that could possibly fit her and a pair of black silk boxers for her to wear. Gently handing them to her, he grabbed himself something to wear for bed and let her use the bathroom to change.

Audrina walked into Draco's bathroom and observed how clean he was. His room was spotless and his bathroom definitely matched that. She was not surprised at the green towels and shower curtain and noted that the towels were extremely fluffy after using one to dry her face after she washed it. She moved to take off her dress but the zipper on the back got stuck on the fabric. Not wanting to risk ripping it, she stepped out of the bathroom to ask for help.

"Draco," she called out, "Will you help me unzip?"

While looking around the room and noticing that Draco didn't seem to be there, she almost jumped when she felt something lick her toes.

"Libby!" she yelled excitedly and proceeded to pick up her small yorkie.

"I found her sitting on your bed," Draco said emerging from what looked like his closet, "I also brought over your toothbrush."

Still fawning over her dog, she almost forgot what she wanted to ask him. She looked up at him and saw that he had already changed. He was now clad in cotton pajama pants and a white tee. Even with hair in a mess, he still managed to look flawless. Putting down her precious dog, she let Libby jump up on Draco's bed and looked over at his face to see if he opposed. When he didn't object, she lifted up her hair and asked him to unzip her.

She felt the heat of his torso at her back as he nimbly worked the zipped down. Once he was done, she felt him slightly push her back into the bathroom and chuckle as she stumbled. Chuckling a bit herself, she locked the door behind her and changed into the clothes he had provided her with.

She stared at her reflection and almost laughed at how his clothes had managed to make her look even smaller. The old jersey almost fell off of her shoulders and the boxers had almost touched her knees but they did feel heavenly on her skin. Shrugging, she left for the room.

Audrina did not expect to come back to _this._

Laying on the bed was Draco cuddling with her dog. They looked so sweet that she almost didn't want to intrude. But she did anyways.

"Baby!" she said and both Draco and Libby turned to her, "Come!"

Libby, who understood that Audrina was calling her and not Draco, jumped off of him and ran to her owner, begging to be picked up. The brown haired dog nuzzled into Audrina's neck once she was picked up.

Audrina walked over to the side of Draco's bed with Libby in her arms and sat down. Libby was now furiously running back and forth between Draco and Audrina, trying to figure out who to sit with. She finally settled with Draco because he had reached out a hand to pet her with.

"I think your dog may like me better than you" he joked.

"Libby loves me!"she laughed as she witnessed Libby lick Draco's chin.

Sounds of footsteps approaching the room alerted Libby and she jumped off the bed in a matter of seconds. She guarded the door with gritted teeth and waited until they heard a knock at the door. Draco pointed under the bed and motioned for Audrina to hide. Once Audrina was out of sight, Draco went to see who was knocking.

After opening the door, Draco was relieved to see that it was only Blinkey.

"Blinkey," he breathed out, "What brings you here so late?"

The house elf motioned to the dog bed in her hands and Libby practically jumped her out of pure excitement. Blinkey happily pet the small dog and laughed as the dog licked at her face whilst wagging her tail.

"Master Draco, Master Snape sent over Miss Libby's bed so that Miss Libby can sleep comfortably tonight."

"Snape?" he asked nervously.

"Yes, Master Draco," the house elf said and then looked past Draco's shoulder and said loudly, "And Master Snape wishes Miss Audrina a good night as well." And with a slight smirk, the house elf apparated away.

Audrina removed herself from her hiding spot and looked at Draco in surprise.

"How did she know I was here?"

"Dunno," he said and then looked at Libby as she scratched at his pant leg. Picking her up, he walked over to her dog bed and gently placed her inside. After making sure Libby was comfortable, he walked back to his bed that was currently occupied by Audrina. He rolled his eyes at her. She was sprawled out in the middle so that he couldn't get on.

He pushed her off to one side of the bed to make room for himself and then he turned on his side to look at her.

"Aw," he said, "Don't give me that face."

"Draco," she whined, "Will you rub my back?"

Unable to refuse her when she looked at him like that, he agreed and positioned himself above her as he began to rub up and down her back. He decided that he was doing a good job from the sounds that she was making. He realized that this could potentially be a bad situation if she continued to make those noises. Announcing that it was now his turn, he plopped himself on the bed stomach first and willed the arousal away.

"You have back dimples!" he heard, "That's adorable!"

Groaning in defeat, he rolled over to his side of the bed and fluffed his own pillow. Getting comfortable, he saw that Audrina was just watching him from her side.

"Love," he lightly scolded, "It's time to sleep."

She gave him a puzzled look but moved to get underneath the covers much like he did moments ago.

"Okay," she said sleepily as she laid her head on his other pillow. He closed his eyes and was drifting off when he felt her foot slide up and down his leg slowly. Growling slightly as she laughed, he hugged her body close to his and smirked as he heard a small gasp from her. He left a chaste kiss on her forehead and once she closed her eyes, he kissed the tip of her nose softly.


	5. Chapter 5: The Sorting Hat

The rest of the week flew by and it was now time to go back to school. Snape was already at Hogwarts and had asked the Malfoys to escort Audrina to the Hogwarts Express for him and had specifically asked Draco to watch over his daughter. He was still wary of the young Malfoy for he knew that his daughter was quite fond of the boy but he figured that if anyone was even remotely close to being good enough for his little girl, it would be a Malfoy. He just kept telling himself that and "At least it isn't Potter".

Audrina was very nervous for her first day. Of course she had already made friends with the male Slytherins and would be fine if she was put into the Slytherin house but what if she wasn't? What if she was put in Ravenclaw? Or even Gryffindor? And Merlin forbid..Hufflepuff? Would anyone want to be her friend? Would she see Draco as much as she would like to? Speaking of Draco, would he want to spend more time with her? She knew that the past few days were bliss- mainly because the two students would spend their time together stealing kisses every chance they got. But did he want more from her? A relationship? Was it the end of their summer fling? A million thoughts flew in her head but her thoughts were interrupted by Draco himself, who was pulling her into his compartment.

"Is that what you're going to wear to the sorting ceremony?" he asked eyeing her black oxford heels and lack of robes.

"Well I happen to think I look cute," she responded pointing out her white button up matched with a shortened black skirt and dark grey pullover sweater, "This is the neutral uniform. I haven't been sorted yet, you know."

"You do look cute," he added, "The stockings were a nice touch. Trying to impress the boys, are you?"

"Never," she said adamantly, "The only boy I'm trying to impress is you."

Grabbing her head in his hands, he kissed her softly on the lips and pushed a stray black curl from her face. Brushing her bottom lip with his thumb, he smiled at her.

"You're a very impressive person," he told her, "That's why I like you. Now put on your robes."

"Sorry to interrupt," Blaise said as he pushed his way through the compartment door, "But Draco has to go to the prefects' compartment and McGonagall has called for you, Audrina."

Draco placed a chaste kiss on her cheek and with a "Later, Love!" he left her in the compartment with Blaise. The Italian boy gave her a knowing look and she blushed and moved to walk with him to see McGonagall.

"So you and Draco, huh?" the boy asked and she couldn't stop the grin from spreading over her face.

"Not technically," she said but couldn't keep the smile from forming on her face.

The boy chuckled at her answer and shrugged.

"I hope you're ready to deal with his fan club. They would all kill to be you right now."

They arrived at McGonagall's compartment door and before Audrina could question him about this 'fan club', the door opened.

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"Miss Alvarez," a distiguished female voice called out from inside the room, beckoning her to enter, "Please, have a seat."

"Hello, Professor," she replied nervously and took a seat, twiddling her thumbs in her lap.

"Miss Alvarez, do you know why I called you here today?" the woman asked and Audrina honestly had no idea why she would want to see her of all the people on the train. She was already nervous enough and having one of the professors call her in for questioning was not helping her at all.

"Honestly, I haven't a clue," she answered politely.

"I understand that you're coming into your fifth year of schooling," McGonagall said and Audrina nodded at the statement, "But you're on a sixth year level. You're being bumped up a grade."

Audrina could only gawk at the woman as she took in her words. She was going to be a sixth year. She was going to be in Draco's year! She couldn't wait to tell him. She would have to wait until after the ceremony if she made it into Slytherin. And that was a big 'if'. Oh Merlin..

"Miss Alvarez?" McGonagall called effectively bringing Audrina back into reality.

"Yes, Professor?"

"It has come to my attention that you have a pet dog," the older witch said whilst eyeing the girl in front of her.

"Yes, I do. Her name is Libby," Audrina spoke sadly as she remembered having to leave her behind because of Hogwarts rules regarding the type of pet that students may bring to the school. Luckily, Lucius had grown fond of the small dog and told her that it would be alright if she left her in his care during the school year.

"Your father has made a request to allow Libby to come and stay at Hogwarts," the professor continued waiting for Audrina's blank expression to falter, "And as long as Libby stays in his quarters I suppose that it would be alright."

Audrina did not let the delight she was feeling show on her face as she listened to McGonagall speak. On the inside, she was screaming in joy but on the outside she was a rock.

"Thank you, Professor," she said, "That's very good news."

"Indeed," McGonagall smiled at her fellow professor's daughter, "You may go."

By the time she had finally made it back to her compartment, the train had pulled to a stop and the students were making their way off of the Hogwarts Express. Taking a deep breath, she followed the crowd and stepped off of the train.

"Firs years!" she saw a large man yell, "Firs years and Missus Alvarez! O'er 'ere!"

Dodging through the massive group of people, she slowly but surely approached the giant man and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Audrina Alvarez," she said as she reached a hand out for him to shake.

"Hullo Missus Audrina," the loud man said and shook her hand strongly, "Names Hagrid, pleasure to finally meet Snape's daughter."

After a couple minutes of small talk regarding her father and the sorting ceremony, Hagrid had lead the group of first years and Audrina to the Great Hall, where all of the other students were already seated. She could see them all looking at her in confusion because she did not look like a first year. Feeling uncomfortable, she took her place at the back of the line and waited for her turn.

It seemed as though there were cheers for every student as they were sorted into their houses. Inevitably, it was her turn to be sorted. Before she moved to sit on the stool, McGonagall made an announcement.

"Now that all of the first years have been sorted," she said and her voice boomed throughout the Great Hall, "It's time for our transfer student to be sorted."

Hearing the murmurs and whispers break out into the hall, Audrina put on a brave face and looked over to her father, who sat at the front table next to Headmaster Dumbledore. He gave her a slight smile and she grinned at him in return.

"Audrina Alvarez, sixth year," McGonagall started and she could hear Draco's voice yell out 'sixth year?' and her grin turned into a smirk, "Please take a seat."

Audrina stepped up and sat on the stool waiting for the sorting hat to be placed on her head. With her shoulders square and her back straight, she looked at the crowd and carefully analyzed the tables. She wondered if she would ever fit in with any of them and if she would be able to befriend anyone. Before the could overthink anymore, she felt the hat rest on the crown of her head.

"Definitely not Hufflepuff!" the sorting hat announced and the Hufflepuff table groaned in disappointment and Audrina struggled to keep her expression blank as she fought back a smile.

"Clever and witty like a Ravenclaw yet brave and impulsive like a Gryffindor," the sorting hat said and Audrina could feel her heart beating erratically. Why wasn't the hat talking about SLytherin? "Hmm. This is a tough one."

The students at both the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor table were on the edge of their seats waiting for the sorting hat's decision.

"Miss Alvarez," the sorting hat addressed her, "What do you want to do when you grow up?"

Slightly confused with the random question, Audrina answered honestly.

"Anything I want," she said completely seriously. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall laughed at her blunt answer. Most people her age would simply say that they didn't know what they wanted to do when they grew up but Audrina knew what she wanted.

"Ah, there's more ambition in you than anything," the hat continued, "Hmm. I do believe you are a Snape, are you not?"

Audrina tried to ignore the gasps and whispers as her schoolmates talked about her and her parentage.

"I am," she said with her head held up high.

"What better place for a Snape than in..." the hat drew out his sorting for a moment and then announced loudly, "Slytherin!"

Relief flooded her as she heard the cheers from the Slytherin table and the protests from the other houses. She smirked and turned to her father who was looking at her proudly from where he was sitting. Dumbledore stood up and pointed his wand at her with a twinkle in his eye and a small smile on his face. In a second her robes were rimmed in green and she was given a green and silver tie. Excited to see her new uniform, she removed her robe and smiled at the green and silver lining on her sweater.

"Accio robes!" she heard her father say and she looked at him confused.

"I'm adjusting the length," he explained, "They were a bit long anyways."

Nodding at him, she turned to face her house and began walking to the table in search of her boyfriend. Quickly spotting him near the other end of the long table, she swaggered towards him, aware of the hundreds of other students staring at her.

"Aw, look at you," Draco cooed, "I must say, Slytherin green suits you well."

"Did you expect any less?" she playfully responded as she scooted him over to make room for her to sit.


	6. Chapter 6: Locker Room Adventures

"Draco Malfoy," Audrina chided, "Don't you dare get fresh with me in my father's classroom."

Chuckling at her attitude this morning, he gently nipped at her ear and removed his hand from her bare thigh. She seemed so on edge whenever they had a game later in the day. This time, she resorted to frantically copying down notes and snapping at Draco whenever he would attempt to show her affection. He found it comical- she was worried about their game against Gryffindor and he was completely at ease.

Only three months into school, Audrina proved to be one of the best students that Hogwarts had ever had. She had already taken second in class away from him and was giving poor Granger a run for her money whilst taking over the chaser position for the Slytherin quidditch team.

She was a brilliant chaser and Draco didn't pick her simply because she was his girlfriend. As captain, he had to be unbiased and choose players based solely on skill. It didn't hurt that she had ingenious strategies as well.

Audrina had been a hit with the boys- much to his dismay. It was almost like they weren't aware that he was her boyfriend. He was her boyfriend, right? Hell, he didn't even know what to call them. All he knew was that he had very strong feelings for her and she felt the same. At least he hoped so.

There was a single incident in the second week of school that landed Draco in detention for a week with Snape. Cormac McLaggen had decided that he would drop his textbook on the ground as Audrina walked past him. Knowing that she would bend down to pick up the book for him, he waited for the right moment to send a rush of wind towards her, effectively blowing her skirt up and exposing her green lace knickers. Draco had never been so livid.

After leaving McLaggen beaten and bloody in the middle of a corridor, he was severely punished by McGonagall, who issued him detentions for the following week with his favorite professor, Snape. Snape had heard about the incident and shook Draco's hand once McGonagall was out of sight.

Bringing himself back into the present day, Draco stared at the board in front of him. The word "AMORTENTIA" was written in big bold letters for everyone to see. Snape was going on about how everyone would get to smell the potion and record their observations. In the corner of his eye, he could see a certain redheaded Gryffindor repeatedly turn around to stare at his darling girlfriend as she dutifully took notes.

"Love," he whispered and was swatted by her right hand as she continued writing with her left, "Listen!"

"What!" she whispered back, clearly annoyed.

"Weasley keeps staring at you," he stated with disgust in his voice.

"Good," she replied as-a-matter-of-factly, "I think that he's becoming infatuated with me."

"How is that a good thing?" he whispered a bit louder, which caused a few heads to turn.

"Keep your voice down!" she scolded quietly, "It's good because later in the game, he may be too distracted to block me from scoring."

"You strategic little minx," he whispered back and let his hand roam around on her thigh once more. This time, she didn't resist and allowed him to touch her. His fingers slid up and down her smooth skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps. Moving past her ridiculously short skirt, he slipped a finger under her knickers to rub her slit. He chuckled lowly as he watched her bite her bottom lip in an effort to stop her moans from escaping her mouth. He would've kept going if Snape's booming voice didn't scare him half to death.

"Weasley!" he shouted and Draco let out a breath of relief that he didn't get caught fondling his professor's daughter and her naughty bits, "Quit gawking at my daughter and pay attention!"

The class laughed at the older Weasley's embarrassment and Audrina had taken the opportunity to wink at the more-red-than-usual Weasley. _Cunning little..._

"Mister Malfoy," Snape said casually, "Do you mind smelling the amortentia and sharing with the class your observations?"

"Not at all, sir," Draco said before he got up from his seat in the back and smelled the potion.

"What do you smell?" the older wizard asked and Draco nervously gulped as he realized that he would have to admit to his girlfriend's father that he smelled her musky scent mixed in with her fruity products.

"Uh, I smell green apples, sir."

"Green apples, you say?" after Draco nodded, Snape continued, "You may take your seat."

"Class is dismissed."

Draco grabbed both of their school bags and books while Audrina accioed their quidditch bags. Draco lead her out of the door with one hand on her lower back. He nearly ran into Weasley because he was distracted by her tan legs and scandalously short skirt. Why no one reported her breaking dress code with the shortened skirt, sexy stockings, and high heeled oxfords, he would never know. Perhaps it was because she was Snape's daughter and could practically get away with murder. Any how, he was itching to touch her.

Before he could walk out the doors of Snape's classroom, a big red oaf zoomed past him towards his girlfriend. He watched as the idiot tapped Audrina on the shoulder and introduced himself. He seethed as he saw the bloody Gryffindor kiss her on the knuckles and compliment how pretty she looked today. What made him even angrier was that she seemed to be flirting back. He knew in the back of his mind that she was simply strategical and was taking advantage of the situation but that didn't soften the blow as he witnessed her put a delicate hand on Weasley's shoulder and laugh lightly.

Draco had met up with Audrina at lunch time after dropping off their school bags in the Slytherin common room. He was still fuming from her encounter with the Weasel after potions and was determined to let her have it.

"Audrina!" he yelled once he spotted her at the end of the Slytherin table sitting next to Blaise, "What the bloody hell was that?"

"What was what," she said faking innocence.

"You know what I'm talking about," he seethed, "You think you can just flirt with Weasley in front of me? Are you trying to make me jealous?"

"Oh Draco," she began, "We're not talking about this in front of everyone in the Great Hall."

Her voice had become hard and cold and he looked around the Hall to see that everyone, including Weasley was staring at them.

"Fine," he spat back, "We're not done though."

Audrina had truly looked angry when she threw her napkin onto her plate and lifted herself out of her seat. She shoved Draco out of her way and whilst passing him to get to the exit, she whispered so quietly that he almost didn't hear her.

"You and me in the locker room," she said, "Five minutes. Don't be late or I will start without you." And she walked away leaving him rigid where he was standing. He didn't bother looking at her because he knew that she would be bringing both of their bags with her to the locker room before the game. Hot damn- he better get a move on before she began without him. _Although_, he thought to himself, _she is awfully pretty when she's angry. _Maybe he'd be a little late this time.

Grabbing a green apple and taking a bite into it, he took a moment to appreciate the sour taste before going down to the locker room. Sending the Weasel one last sneer before leaving, he swaggered out of the Great Hall to his randy girlfriend.

He fully intended to teach his latin girlfriend a lesson or two. She couldn't just act like a tart whenever the team called for it- she was _his._ No other guy would be allowed to touch her besides him. No one would ever touch what was his. And she would learn today. Finishing the last of his apple, he threw the core into the trashcan outside of the locker room doors. He pushed the doors open and locked them behind him with a flick of his wand.

Scouting the place for his Costa Rican beauty, he spotted her at the mirrors, fluffing her hair.

"You're late," she stated.

"And you're in your knickers," he observed.

Smiling at her own reflection, she saw him approach her from behind and take in her appearance. As he rested his hands on her hips, he felt the black lace of her knickers and she arched into him. She gasped when he unclasped her bra, letting it drop to the floor. She bit down on her lip as he pinched a rosy nipple between his fingers. Soon enough, both of his hands were cupping her breasts and his tongue was trailing her neck. She let out a moan and he lightly bit on her ear lobe causing her to cry out. Still playing with her nipples in front of the mirror, she could only watch his every movement.

"You're mine," he said, "Mine only."

"Mhmm," she moaned, "Yours."

He slipped a hand into her knickers and felt around for her nub. Finding the right spot, he rubbed softly at first and then faster as he slipped a single digit into her already wet pussy.

"Ah!" she screamed out, "Mm Draco please."

"Please what?" he said as his erect penis strained against his pants. She could feel his hard length pressing against her bottom and she became even wetter.

"Mm give it to me," she almost begged and suddenly felt him lift her up and place her on the counter, back to the mirror. He slowly removed her knickers from her body and she shivered in anticipation. Closing her eyes, she didn't expect to feel his hot tongue on her clit.

"Wha- what are you doing?" she managed to stutter out.

He didn't answer her. Ignoring her protests, he continued to lick her up and down and began to stroke her nub with his thumb. He could tell that he orgasm was building up and by the sounds she was making, she was close. He resisted the urge to give her a release and removed himself from her heat. Pulling off his clothes, he nearly ripped off his boxers in his haste to free his hard dick from its confines. He smirked as he heard her audible gasp.

"Draco," she said, "How is that going to-" Before she could finish her sentence he had cut her off with a kiss. Their tongues battled for dominance as he slid his dick up and down her wetness, earning groans from the witch underneath him. He grabbed his length and slapped her throbbing pussy with it.

"Mine." _Slap._

"Only mine." _Another slap. _Audrina moaned lowly and had begun to tire of his constant teasing so she grabbed him by the penis and looked him dead in the eye.

"Only yours, baby," she said, "And this cock is mine now."

Capturing his mouth in hers, she lined up his tip with her entrance and prepared herself for the pain. He pushed in slowly and was surprised that she did not have tears threatening to fall. He broke their kiss and moved to whisper into her ear.

"I love you," he said, "You're so beautiful."

Moments later, she had adjusted to his size and she was overwhelmed with pleasure. Draco was now thrusting into her mercilessly as she came close to her climax. As she released, she screamed out loudly and he hugged her body close to his as he released inside of her.

The room was silent except for the sounds of their panting breaths. Draco held her face in his hands and peppered it with kisses as she laughed at how incredibly sweet the gesture was. The sweat was scourgified off of their bodies suddenly and he looked to her in surprise.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Wandless and non-verbal," she answered smugly, "I'm a brilliant witch."

"I love you," he said and began to play with her bare breasts, "And I love your tits."

She laughed and pushed his hands off of her as she began to dress herself. She had modified the chaser uniform so that she would be able to fly around on her broom more efficiently. The new skin tight onesie (that's basically what it is) with green on the collar and black everywhere else was made just for her. It clung to her body like a second skin and made her a lethal weapon against the opposing teams. Draco zipped up the front of her uniform and admired the curve of her bum. He helped her put her jersey over the onesie and smiled at how it fit perfectly.

Noticing that he was still in the nude, he went over to his quidditch bag and began to put on his own uniform. He was already clad in his jersey and quidditch robes when he went to look for his boots and noticed that instead of his boots, Audrina's were lying in his bag. He looked up to see Audrina holding up his large boots and holding out a hand for him to pass her her own boots. Laughing slightly, they traded shoes and finished getting dressed.

Audrina conjured a hair tie and tied her hair back in a high ponytail. Draco bent over to place a small kiss on her cheek but she turned her head slightly so that the kiss landed on her lips. She smiled at him and he could feel the tingling in his stomach. Even after three months of "dating" or whatever they were doing, she still gave him butterflies. He was becoming a romantic sap but he didn't mind in the slightest.

"I love you," she said and took his hand in hers as they walked out to the pitch to prepare for the game that would take place in a matter of minutes.

He spent the next couple of minutes trying to slow down the frantic beating of his heart before the game began.


	7. Chapter 7: Get Your Game Face On

Draco grimaced as he saw the Weasley buffoon wave excitedly to his girlfriend. _His _girlfriend. Draco was more possessive than ever now that he knew what it meant to be completely and utterly head over heels in love. He had never thought that he would find it. Before Audrina, he had expected to be pinned down by a wife that was selected for him by his parents in an awkward arranged marriage. He had never hoped to find true love because it was unlikely that such a beautiful thing could happen to him of all people. He supposed that love hit you when you least expect it. Or maybe when you give up on it. Either way, he was absolutely elated.

Hearing Audrina tell him that she loved him back made his heart flutter. Draco was sure that he had a heart for it fluttered within his own ribcage! He felt silly. These things only happen to thirteen year old girls who have no idea how to contain their emotions.

He had been worried that when he let the three words slip in the locker room whilst entering her that the feelings wouldn't be mutual. His emotions had gone into overdrive. There he was- drinking in her entire essence and exploring places that no man had ever been before and he had made the sudden realization. He loved her. Draco Malfoy _loved _her. He loved the way she walked down the hallways with such confidence that it was nearly impossible to look away. He loved the way she smiled at him right before he devoured his breakfast in the morning. He loved the way she laughed so carelessly with her head thrown back in undeniable joy. He loved the way she scrunched up her cute little button nose whenever Pansy or Astoria walked by and tried to capture his attention. Hell, he even loved the way she glared at him when he attempted to get her off task during double potions with the Gryffindorks. This was what he had been waiting for. She was what he unknowingly desired all this time. And she was _his._

He knew he was a love struck fool but damn it all to hell! If it would make her happy, he would do anything. Anything just to see her smile the way that she did when she talked about her home or her mother or her future. He made a promise to himself that he would take her back to her home country someday. Perhaps during break so that he could meet her mother. It made him immensely happy to know that she had been making plans to stay in England and further her education at University-not because she would be able to soak up in new knowledge like a sponge (although that was a plus) but because she would be staying near him and he would be able to see her whenever he darn pleased. He had only hoped that she would make room for him in her plans.

You see, the moment that he walked into the locker room to see her fixing her hair, fluffing it so that it fell angelically around her face, he knew that he wanted this forever. He wanted to be able to come home to that everyday and be able to drown himself in her presence. He wanted to be able to unwrap her like a present every night and ravish her endlessly. He wanted to have little blonde haired, green-eyed, tan skinned children running around the manor screaming like banshees. Perhaps they would be black haired, silver-eyed, and porcelain skinned but he didn't care. He would love them regardless. Just like he loved their mother.

He watched as her expression became serious moments before the game had started. He could stare at her everyday trying to memorize every little quirk of her physique. He observed the furrow of her brows and the tight line of her lip as she gripped her broom. This was her game face. And it was game time.

He slid his gloves on and squeezed his skillfully nimble fingers together to form a fist. He would catch the snitch if it was the last thing he did. He wouldn't catch the snitch for his pride or the satisfaction of finally beating Potter, or even for the glory. He would catch it for her. And he would be damned if he didn't.

He vaguely heard as the game commenced and mounted his broom in search of the golden snitch.

Audrina had her mind set on one thing and one thing only. She was going to rack up as many points as she possibly could to help her team win. And then once the Gryffindors had their asses handed to them, she would take Draco back to her dorm and ravish him like no other.

Of course she was aware that there were others before her. She had heard the stories of the young playboy Malfoy countless times before. Sometimes her male classmates would approach her to "warn" her of his antics and other times catty females would sneer and inform her that they were "the best he ever had". With the boys she would smile and assure them that she knew what Draco's agenda was and that she was a big girl, therefore she could handle herself. With the ladies she took a different approach. The occasional hex worked like a charm in getting rid of the pests.

She was convinced that he had changed. She was definitely jealous that other girls had seen his privates simply because they were hers now. She had declared that it was rightfully hers in the heat of the moment and she didn't hear him protesting about it. As far as she was concerned, that dick was hers for nor and for always. And what a beautiful dick it was.

Snapping out of it, she willed the thoughts of Draco's fine piece of anatomy (no- she wasn't referring to his arse) away so that she could focus on the task at hand. She would get so many quaffles through Ron Weasley's goal post that he would be crying to him mummy by the time she was done with him. Sending him a sultry smile before zooming past several Gryffindors, she made her first move.

She had been able to score on Ron Weasley several times before he even attempted to stop her. His eyes were glued to her arse as she flew around the pitch and the only reason he was able to snap out of his temporary stupor was because his infuriating little sister had yelled at him to "stop ogling the harpy" and do his job. _Well I never.._

Now that he was doing his job, it became increasingly harder for her to score on him. She decided that she would have to up her antics so that she would be able to effectively distract him long enough for her to make a joke of his keeping skills.

"Bloody good job you're doing, Weasley!" she exclaimed with a sugary sweet fake smile plastered on her face.

"Thanks," he said looking smug, "But you should really call me Ron."

"Isn't that what you're friends call you?" she pondered aloud while subtly preparing the quaffle in her hand, "Are we friends, Weasley?"

"Do you want to be friends?" he asked in a husky tone that made her want to gag, "We could be more than that, you know."

"What about your girlfriend?" she asked before scoring on him twice more.

"Hermione? She isn't much of a girlfriend. Never lets me even cop a feel," he continued, "She's not really my type."

"Then why are you dating her?" Audrina took advantage of the fact that Ron was unable to multitask thus not able to keep a conversation with her and keep his own goal post at the same time. She scored another time and he didn't even notice.

"She'll put out some time I suppose," he said simply and she felt herself fill with anger. Hermione was a very nice girl and she had a lot of respect for her. The girl was brilliant and not only that but she was pretty in a librarian kind of way. She deserved so much more than him. She let her anger get the best of her as she exploded in fury.

"How dare you!" she screamed, "Hermione's a lovely person! That's a terrible thing to say!"

Ron looked worried for a moment and looked around hoping that no one heard her outburst. Unfortunately for him, the crowd was now focused on them as Audrina ranted about how much of a "low-life pig" he was and how he should "go fuck himself" and the like. She was so busy going off on him that she didn't see the bludger coming right at her.

Audrina wanted to throttle the git. She wanted to downright strangle him in front of everyone and go find a suitable match for Hermione afterwards. It pained her that people like him existed. She could hear Draco call out her name and turned just before a bludger hit the front of her broom, sending her falling fast.

She let out a bone chilling scream as she felt herself being knocked off of her broom towards the unforgiving ground. She reached out in the hopes that she would be able to grab hold of anything but there was nothing in sight. She felt someone wrap their hand around her waist and descend towards the ground to drop her off. She prayed to Merlin that it wasn't that foul git, Weasley.

It wasn't.

Her feet touched the ground and she looked up to her savior. To her joy, she looked right into the silvery pools of her unmistakable boyfriend. It barely registered to her that he didn't look too happy because she was so busy thanking him over and over.

"Are you barking mad?" he yelled at her, "You should've been more aware of your surroundings!"

"Draco-" she started but he refused to let her speak.

"Don't 'Draco' me!" he shouted so loud that people in the castle could probably hear him, "Do you know what would've happened if I didn't catch you just now? Huh? Do you?"

"Draco-" she began again but he interrupted her before she could get another word in.

"No! You don't!" he cried out in frustration, "You could have died! You could have died and then what would I have done? Are you trying to drive me completely bonkers?"

"Draco-"

"What now?" he seethed, upset at her for worrying him so.

"What's in your hand?" she asked and he looked inside his hand and found the snitch. He was absolutely baffled. He had caught the damn thing and hadn't even noticed.

"How did that get there?" he said stupidly as his team rejoiced. He pumped a fist in the air and laughed happily as Audrina jumped his bones and attacked his face with kisses screaming "You did it! You caught it!". He looked over at the Gryffindor team and smirked. Weasel King was still red from the real life in-person howler he had received from his beautiful girlfriend, the Weaslette was looking angry as hell, and Potter looked plain stupid with his mouth open so wide that he could fit a quaffle in it.

Draco spun Audrina around in circles before bringing her back to the ground to snog her thoroughly. He was feeling invincible and even grabbed her arse while making a claim over her mouth. He didn't even care if Snape was watching from the bleachers.


	8. Chapter 8: Snape is NOT Pleased

The holidays crept up on them all and the weather began to change drastically. It was getting increasingly colder and it was bittersweet to Draco when Audrina began to dress warmly. Gone were the shortened skirts and pretty little stockings. They had been replaced by the standard length skirt and warm high socks. She had also taken to buttoning her shirts all the way and layering her clothing. On the bright side, the other males couldn't eye fuck her but it was unfortunate that he couldn't just take her into an empty classroom and simply lift her tiny skirt up for a quickie. He actually had to take his time and undress her now. The struggle.

Draco was uncharacteristically excited for Christmas because it would be his first Christmas ever that he would be spending with Audrina. In the previous years he found Christmas to be boring and lonely. He only ever spent them with his parents and even then he felt lonely. He craved the warmth and love that came from someone he truly cared about. Although his parents loved him dearly as he did them, it was hard for them to show their affections- especially when there was a war brewing and they were expected to be cold and uncaring.

Draco was also very nervous for the upcoming holiday. There were rumors that You-Know-Who would be making an appearance at Malfoy Manor to hand out the dark mark to his loyal followers. His father had already submitted himself to the mark after Snape had given him the okay to do so. You see, the Malfoy's desperately wanted to get out of the Dark Lord's control but since that didn't seem possible at the moment, they would settle for being members of the Order in secret. Narcissa had already made arrangements with the other members for herself and Draco to be able to join them in their fight against the Dark Lord when the time was right. Lucius would play the role of the humble and loyal right hand man so that they would have a snake to gather information to them.

Despite being reassured by his mother that he would be able to be on the "good" side of the war, he still feared that he may still have to take the mark before that happened.

He didn't want to be marked for life.

Audrina made everyone in the room aware of her presence when she stormed into their dormitory. She was dressed in her favorite pajamas and Draco thought she was looking terribly cute. She had on his old flannel pajama pants and Slytherin seeker sweatshirt. Paired with her own fluffy slippers, she walked up to his bed and pouted at him.

"Yes, love?" he asked as she looked at him with an expectant look.

"Dad says I need to stay here for the break. He wants to spend Christmas with me," she told him while gritting her teeth, "He knew I wanted to spend some time with you over the holiday and now I can't."

He couldn't help but sympathize with her as she looked at him with her famous "puppy dog face". It was an undeniable upset that she couldn't come back with him to the Manor for Christmas but maybe it was for the best. He didn't want her to be around if Voldemort showed up. He didn't want her to be exposed to that. She definitely wasn't ready.

"Aw, come here," he said with arms open wide and inviting, "It'll be okay. We can owl day and night and we can exchange gifts before I go."

"I just wanted to wake up to you on Christmas morning," she whined and he felt his heart swell inside his chest.

"I know love, I know."

Once Audrina was comfortably situated underneath his covers, he excused himself to get ready for bed. She cuddled further into his blanket, smelling the pillow that he slept on. She sighed, it smelt just like him. Minty toothpaste and after shave. She had been afraid that when she smelt the amortentia that day in potions, she wouldn't be familiar with the scent. Her heart was relieved when she smelt Draco and only Draco. It was then that she knew she could give herself entirely to him and not regret a thing.

Theodore Nott looked at her quizzically from his own bed. She began to feel his gaze on her and turned to stare at him back. After minutes of straring one another down, she spoke first.

"Can I help you, Theo?"

"I'm afraid not," he said amused, "It's just I've never seen Malfoy so whipped." As soon as he said 'whipped' they could hear a protest from Draco in the bathroom. She laughed at him and shook her head.

"He's not whipped," she defended, "He's just in love."

Theo and Audrina made small talk for a few moments before Snape came barging through the door. Blaise, who was sitting on his bed writing a last minute essay in only his underwear, jumped right out of his seat and spilled his ink. Theo scrambled to cover himself with a bedsheet as he was also only clad in his boxers. Audrina was the only one who stayed calm as she snuggled into the comforter so that only her face was visible to her father.

"Audrina what is the meaning of this!" Snape boomed, demanding an explanation for her current location.

"The meaning of what, Dad?" she said innocently, blinking her big eyes at her father knowing that he could never say no to her.

"Why are you in the boys' dormitory?" he all but screamed and people began to look in through the door to see what was going on.

"I'm getting ready to sleep," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Draco had locked himself in the bathroom to protect his family jewels because he knew that's what Snape would go for first. He huddled himself into the corner of the tub and grasped his wand tightly in his hand.

"Why in here? In his bed?" he questioned her with frustration written all over his face.

"Because Dad," she started, obviously annoyed, "You won't let me spend Christmas with him so I want to spend every possible moment with him before he leaves for home."

Snape was speechless. He knew she was upset that she couldn't go to the Malfoys' for the break but he didn't expect to find her in Draco's bed. He was surprised when he heard some Slytherin girls talking about it. He didn't believe it at first but now he only hoped that she was dressed under that blanket.

"Please tell me you're clothed," he practically begged.

"Dad, I'm fully clothed," she breathed out, "I promise."

Snape let out a breath of relief. He didn't think he would be able to handle it if he found his little girl in Draco Malfoy's bed wearing anything other than modest clothing. Upon hearing Snape's change in tone, Draco thought he would be in the clear to join them in the room. He was wrong.

"You!" Snape yelled.

"Dad, don't hurt him!" Audrina yelled and jumped from her spot on the bed. What a shame. She was so comfortable.

"Why ever not?" he asked her while still looking at Draco with anger spread all the way from the neck up.

"I love him!"

Snape had not expected that answer. He was filled with emotion as the words escaped her mouth. Draco was glued to his spot near the bathroom door and he nervously reached over to grab the door knob in case he needed to create a barrier between him and his girlfriend's father.

Snape wasn't going to attack him. It would only lead him into more sadness. Not only would Audrina be extremely mad at him, but she would be worried sick over the blonde fool. Snape had been wrong. No one would ever come even remotely close to being good enough for his little girl. He had this pain in his heart that nagged at him, telling him that she was growing up. And she had a new man in her life. Soon enough she wouldn't need him anymore. He just wished he could stop the clock.

"Daddy, don't be sad," Audrina told him before wrapping her arms around his waist. She laid her ear over his chest to hear his heart beating. Perhaps she could hear it breaking?

"I can't help it," he said ignoring all the prying eyes, "I can't believe you love the oaf."

"Neither can I," she laughed and then became serious, "Don't think I'm going to forget about you, Daddy."

Her words filled the void in his heart and he haw so much of her mother in her eyes. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and bid her goodnight. He left the room in a hurry and once he was in the privacy of his own room, he cried.

Snape cried because his little girl was growing far too fast. He cried because he had no power to stop Draco from breaking her heart if that was to happen. And he cried because he had finally acknowledged the emptiness in his own heart that had been created when Audrina's mother and he had split and she moved on as if they were never together.

Luckily, he had Libby to confide in.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

Draco didn't know what to say. He watched as Audrina retreated into the covers and buried herself within the fabric. He slowly made his way to his side of the bed and lifted the end of the blanket to reveal a vulnerable Audrina underneath. She looked so miserable. He was never good with words and he didn't know what he could possibly say to make her feel better so he didn't say anything. No one said anything for a long time. He simply spooned her and allowed her to cry silently into his pillow. He stroked her hair and hugged her tight wishing that he could take away some of the pain she was feeling right now. He was caught completely off guard when she addressed the situation.

"You're so lucky you're pretty," she said, "Otherwise it wouldn't be worth it to make my Daddy sad."

"So you're only with me for my looks?" he asked playfully, hoping that she would be in a better mood.

"Don't be silly," she retorted, "I'm also in it for the money," Draco and the other boys were completely silent as she continued, "You also have a nice bum so I guess that's a bonus."

Blaise and Theo began to laugh uncontrollably while Draco blushed profusely. He couldn't believe that she had revealed that to him in front of his friends! She was mad. She was absolutely bonkers. But that's why he loved her so much.

He moved over to make space for her to lay flat on her back. Once she was comfortable, he went in for the kill. He tickled her stomach and then her sides, and then her feet. She begged him to have mercy on her and stop his tactics at once, but he refused. He only stopped when he felt she had enough. Once she was out of breath and her chest heaved as she lay beneath him, he leaned in to leave a kiss on her lips and cuddle with her once more.

As they drifted off into their deep slumber, Draco held her closer to his body and kissed the top of her head.


	9. Chapter 9: Happy Christmas, My Lord

The morning of winter break was hectic. Not only did Draco have to finish packing for the week he would be spending at home, but he had to exchange gifts with Audrina before he boarded the Hogwarts Express. He probably wouldn't be getting breakfast this morning.

As he stuffed a lone sock into his suitcase, he saw Audrina excitedly jump up on the overfilled luggage so that he could successfully zip it up. Once that was done, she remained on top of the now shut suitcase as she looked at him somewhat sadly. He mimicked her expression and she motioned him to "come hither". He leaned in towards her and she left a lingering kiss on his lips that made him want to unpack all of his things and lay with her on his bed forever. Sadly, he couldn't and that made it all the more difficult to say goodbye.

Draco turned away to fetch her gift from inside his underwear drawer. He turned back to her, gift in hand, and saw that she had something hidden behind her back. She brought it to her lap and he saw that it was a neatly wrapped present and he assumed it was for him.

Before he could hand her gift to her, she shoved the green and silver wrapped box into his hands and looked at him expectantly.

"Open it," she encouraged and he began to rip at the paper. He lifted the top of the box to reveal three different pairs of boxers- all made of silk. There was a green, black, and silver pair of boxers that shined in the light. He took a pair into his hands to further inspect it and noticed that on the waistband it had "Property of Audrina Alvarez" sewn into it. He laughed and kissed her behind the ear and told her that he loved his gift.

"There's more in the box, silly," she urged him to look into the box to see what else lied inside.

As he peered into the box, he saw a medium sized black book with "_Draco & Audrina_" engraved in the front. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised as she picked the book up and opened it up for him. On the first page was a moving picture of them after the sorting ceremony. She was walking towards him at the Slytherin table and he was looking at her with pride in his eyes. Their eyes were glued on one another and neither of them noticed the hundreds of eyes on them. His eyes gazed over at the caption underneath that read "Slytherin at heart."

He grinned before turning the page. The next picture was of them at the Slytherin quidditch tryouts. She had already been named the newest chaser on the team and instead of celebrating, she flew up into the air to catch the snitch before Draco could grasp it. He then moved to chase her while she laughed gleefully holding the golden snitch in her hand. Underneath this one it said "How the tables have turned. Chasing the chaser, Draco? Tsk tsk."

He moved to hold her hand as he flipped through the book, each page showing a different memory of them over the past few months. After he had finished the book, he looked at her and lifted her hand up to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

"I love it," he said and she smiled at him, coaxing him into smiling back. Come to think of it, Draco didn't even recall the last time he sneered. She did have that effect on him. When she wasn't in the room with him, she was still in his mind and that was enough to fend the scowls and sneers away.

He gently placed the gift he had customized for her while in Hogsmeade onto her lap and motioned for her to open it. She wasn't as graceful as she was frantically clumsy as she ripped open the shiny light pink paper, revealing a huge jewelry box. It was spotlessly white with a silver clasp that she opened slowly.

When the clasp was opened completely, the top of the box popped up and she couldn't believe her own eyes. Laying before her was a set of pearl with diamond set in sterling silver jewelry. The box was filled entirely with a necklace with a pearl center surrounded by small diamonds on a silver chain, a pair of simple diamond earrings, a pair of shiny diamond earrings, along with a pair of stunning pearl and diamond earrings to match the necklace, a ring to go with the necklace and earrings as well, and even a pearl-diamond belly ring. She was so happy that she could cry.

To Draco's horror, she actually did begin to cry. Her tears fell on her cheeks in pairs and he rushed to wipe them away. The fact that he had remembered her muggle piercing was too much for her. She was a mess as she blubbered on about how sweet and thoughtful he was and how lucky she was to be with him.

He wrapped his arms around the hysterical girl and shushed her repeatedly until she was able to get her emotions under control. He took the ring out from the jewelry box and carefully slipped it onto her finger. Her breath hitched inside her throat as he clasped her left hand in his.

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Audrina made her way to the Great Hall clad in only her sweats after emerging from her room. She hugged herself as she entered the room and looked at the empty Slytherin table. She thought that she felt alone after Draco left her in his room to catch the train but it wasn't until now that she felt truly alone. She frowned slightly before moving to sit in her normal spot. The spot next to where Draco usually sat. Draco. She missed him already.

"Alvarez!" a familiar voice called out to her from the Ravenclaw table and she looked up to see Blaise Zabini sitting there with a blonde that she certainly did not expect to see there. Luna Lovegood looked dreamy as she sat next to Blaise and didn't seem phased by the arm he was draping over her shoulders. She looked at them questioningly until Blaise waved her over to sit with them.

"Hey Blaise," she said before uncertainly greeting his companion. "Hi Luna."

"Hello Audrina," Luna said airily and Audrina noticed the twinkle in her eye and admired the way her wavy hair fell down her back, "How are you?"

"Terrible," Audrina answered and let her head hit the table.

"She's upset because Draco's gone and left her here," Blaise explained to Luna and Audrina felt the blonde move her hand on top of hers.

"It's alright," the Ravenclaw assured her, "I'm sure he's just as miserable as you are because you aren't together right now."

The small latina nodded her head in thanks and felt something lick at her toes. She suddenly realized that she had forgotten to put on shoes as she bent down to pick Libby up off the floor. She placed the small dog on top of the table where she was free to eat anything she wanted. Audrina picked up a piece of fruit and took a pitiful bite out of it. It was going to be a long week.

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On Christmas morning, Audrina and her father exchanged gifts. Snape had given her a new pair of Louis Vuitton stilettos which she loved. She hugged him multiple times as she thanked him profusely. Once she was done, she handed him his gift and he opened it to reveal rare potions ingredients that she had collected in her home country before she came to England.

Libby had received a new bed that was both fluffier and softer than her old one from Snape. From Audrina she received a cute Christmas sweater that was put on her before the small family took their first annual Christmas photo. Libby also had quite a pile of small gifts from her friends here at Hogwarts. There were presents from Blasie, Luna, and Draco in the pile. Audrina opened all of them and "oohed" and "ahhed" at them before showing them to her precious pet. Blaise had gotten her a lovely food bowl with her name on it while Luna had gifted her a photo frame of a picture of Blaise, herself, and Libby. Audrina laughed as she remembered how Luna and Blaise referred to themselves as Libby's godparents.

Libby's last present was from Draco. Audrina peeled back the familiar shiny pink paper and gasped as she saw what was inside. Draco had given her a Slytherin dog collar which Audrina picked up to place around Libby's neck. Libby barked her approval and Audrina smiled. She almost missed the shine that came from the bottom of the box. She looked into the box once more and lifted a pearl and diamond encrusted dog collar from the packaging and a grin broke out on her face.

"Look Libby!" she yelled gleefully, "We can be matching now!"

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Audrina smiled at the post card in her hands. After she finished unwrapping her presents (all of which were wonderful), she heard an owl hooting from her window. She retrieved a letter from the owl and sent it off with a treat. She slipped her fingers underneath the flap of the blank envelope and opened it, seeing a beautiful moving post card from her mother.

It appeared that she was in Greece. Audrina always knew her mother had a knack for traveling and was happy that she would finally be able to do so. She graved a thumb over her mother's beaming smile and jumped when she heard the door being kicked open.

In the door frame stood Blaise Zabini and her father, who frantically began spurting out instructions to her.

"Audrina, we're going to Malfoy Manor," he started and Audrina interrupted with a cheer as she began to collect her best black dress to pair with the heels he had given her earlier this morning, "No! Not good! Pay attention!" he screamed and she stopped what she was doing and became more serious, "The Dark Lord is going to be there. Mister Zabini is here to prep you before you arrive there by floo. I will be arriving a few minutes before you two and I expect that you lay low and avoid eye contact. Understood?"

He waited for her nod and left the room. Blaise hurriedly pushed her into the bathroom to get changed while telling her what she needed to do to be ready.

"Now you must not show any affection towards Draco," he started and Audrina paused with one shoe on her foot, "Pretend like you don't know each other. The Dark Lord does not have a soft spot for love," he took a calming breath before continuing, "Remember to set up walls in your mind so that he cannot intrude on your thoughts. Occlumency is your best friend right now."

She finished putting herself together before grabbing her wand and robes and following her Italian friend to the floos. He grabed a hold of her shoulders and looked her in the eye before speaking slowly as if she was a child who would not be able to understand him.

"Draco is receiving the dark mark today," he said seriously while observing how her facial muscles formed a deep frown, "None of that. Do not react. Snape and Narcissa have a portkey waiting for us if there is a problem. It's located in Draco's room and the Lucius has granted us permission to apparate there if need be. You remember what his room looks like don't you?"

She nodded her head once and he handed her some floo powder. Despite her inner turmoil, she managed to throw the powder into the fire and say her location clearly before stepping into the fire.

Audrina arrived just a moment before Blaise did. No one was waiting for them so they walked quietly to the ballroom where the Death Eater meeting was being held. Blaise took a deep breath before moving to open the door slowly.

Before he could push the door open, Audrina had already pushed it open, alerting everyone in the room of her presence.

With Blaise behind her, she looked over everyone in the room, taking note of the faces. She took a mental picture of the group of people and her eyes fell over a sneering Pansy with her hands grasping at a scowling Draco. She almost laughed but then remembered that she had to refrain from showing any emotion.

Sticking her nose up in the air, she made her way over to sit next to her father while Blaise took the seat next to her.

"So," a cold sounded through the large room cutting through the silence, "This is the infamous Audrina Alvarez, yes?" The Dark lord stood up from his seat and walked over to where Audrina was seated. Her spine went rigid and she fought her instinct to get up and run. She sat completely still as he trailed a rough, cold finger over her jawline, inspecting her face.

"Such a pretty young thing," he drawled as he grabbed her underneath her chin, "Where do your loyalties lie, girl?"

"With you, my lord," she answered monotonously and wished with everything in her body that he would remove his hands from her person. She would need to take a long, long shower after this.

"Very good," he said and then turned to a woman with wild black hair going in all directions, "Bellatrix! What do you think?"

The woman stood up and told Audrina to stand. She lead the girl to the front of the room with her nails digging into her soft, tan flesh. Once they were standing before everyone, she took a step back from Audrina and began to circle around her.

"Half-blood," she spat as she circled around her to her backside and Audrina felt the point of a wand digging into her back as Bellatrix reached up to grab her neck. "Daddy can't help you here," she said as she cackled madly and moved her wand up to Audrina's temple. Audrina's anger began to surface and was now visible on her face.

"Oh," Bellatrix mocked, "Getting angry now, are we?" the mad woman took a step back from Audrina once more and pointed her wand at Audrina before sending a crucio her way.

Audrina lay on the ground feeling pain sparking up her spine and she struggled to stop the sounds of agony from escaping her mouth as she felt her limbs being twisted around painfully. She kept her eyes open as Bellatrix continued with the assault and vaguely noticed Pansy Parkinson come up to take her place. The pug-faced bint pointed her sorry excuse for a wand at her and gleefully yelled out 'Crucio!' and Audrina barely felt anything.

Audrina allowed it to go on until the two witches were satisfied with the damage they had done. She lay there without moving for moments until the Dark Lord spoke. He told everyone to move to the ball room.

"Come, Audrina," he ordered and then ordered the rest of the group to follow. He placed a hand on the small of her back as he lined her up next to Draco, Blaise, and Theo. He then took his place at the front of the room where there was an extravagant chair that resembled a throne. In the dark light of the room, she could see Lucius and her father standing at Voldemort's right side. As she looked around the room she noticed that Narcissa was nowhere to be found.

"You've all proven yourselves to be useful and loyal servants to your lord," Lucius began and gave them a pointed look, "Now you will take the mark."


	10. Chapter 10: She's Got the Mark!

Blaise walked up cautiously to the Dark Lord and placed his arm in his hand. Voldemort turned his arm so that the forearm was exposed and dug the point of his wand into the mocha toned flesh. Blaise bit back a scream as he waited for the pain to subside. Once he was dismissed, he walked over the the crowd of Death Eaters that had come to watch the young people receive their marks.

"Ah, my dear Draco," the Dark Lord said with a look of unnatural joy on his face, "Come."

Draco did as he was told and approached the evil wizard and handed himself over just as he was asked. It wasn't long before the mark was forever branded on his arm for everyone to see. He did not once look back at Audrina while the Dark Lord was in sight. He walked over to his father and stood at his side. Lucius placed a hand on his son's shoulder with a look of pride on his face as the other Death Eaters watched closely. Lucius gave Draco a slight squeeze to let him know that the port key was ready to go and Snape gave him a look from the corner of his eye that he took as a sign to get Audrina out of there as soon as he could.

"Audrina, my newest follower," Voldemort spoke in a cold, monotonous voice, "Come receive your gift from the Dark Lord."

"Yes, my lord," she complied as she stepped up to his throne.

"Let my have your hand."

Audrina placed her hand in the Dark Lord's grasp and felt him trail his fingers up and down her smooth skin. She refrained from shivering but was very close to losing her cool.

"Love," he spoke and Audrina winced. Only Draco called her 'Love'. Only Draco touched her so intimately. Only Draco had her loyalty. "You will serve your lord well," and with that, he marked her.

Audrina felt a burning sensation claw through her flesh as she struggled to keep a straight face. She successfully masked her pain beneath a blank expression as she stood at Voldemort's side, waiting to be dismissed.

"It's a shame that you're only sixteen, my sweet," and her blood ran cold, "I'll just have to wait until you become of age to take you."

Audrina's eyes widened visibly and she blinked her fear away. There she stood before the others with her head held high and her spirit only halfway broken. She barely heard their dismissal before her father motioned for her to follow.

Once she was out of sight from the others, she let the tears flow from her eyes as she allowed her father to hug her gently. It was a short hug, for they did not know who could walk in on them at the moment. Snape wiped Audrina's tears away with his thumb and wished her a 'Happy Christmas' before stepping into the floo. _Happy my arse._

Audrina thought about what Draco's room looked like and felt the familiar pull at her navel as she apparated to him. She heard a loud pop as she stumbled into Narcissa, who was looking down at her worriedly.

"My child, are you alright?" she asked and Audrina burst into loud tears. Narcissa hurriedly placed a silencing charm over the room so no one would be able to hear her cries. She hushed the girl and pulled her into her arms to comfort her while stroking the top of her head. Draco attempted to console her but his mother gave him a look and he was forced to sit back down next to Blaise.

"Shhh," she said, "Shh. Sweetheart let us leave and we shall talk about this in a more safe place."

Narcissa held Audrina's hand and used the other to touch the port key. The two boys also placed a hand on the book port key and watched as Audrina lifted a hand to place on the book weakly. She looked up at Draco sadly right as the port key activated and they were transported to their destination.

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When Audrina opened her eyes to see where she was, she saw several wands pointed at her. She took one look at Ginny Weasley's face and saw the blind hatred that she had directed towards her. She saw the unsure look in Harry's eyes and assumed that he was wondering why a bunch of Slytherins- Malfoys nonetheless- were standing inside the house with members of the Order.

She did not need to look any further to know that Hermione and Ron both had their wands ready to hex someone if they stepped out of line. She was so tired. She was tired of people pointing their wands at her for no reason. She was tired of people assuming things about her and hating her without getting to know her. She was tired of having to defend herself for things that she wasn't responsible for. She was so damn tired.

"Put your wands down," she spoke in a voice that was so hard that she didn't even recognize it as hers. No one moved a muscle. Audrina small frame shook with rage as she went to reach for her own wand and she could feel Draco move behind her to restrain her. Once she saw Ron step closer to them with his wand pointed at Draco's face in warning she snapped.

In mere seconds she had everyone's wands in her fist. Her Gryffindor counterparts began protesting which brought out Mrs. Weasley for damage control.

"Mum! She has our wands!" Ron cried and pointed at Audrina before continuing, "Stop her!"

"Who do you think you are?" Ginny screamed and stepped up to Audrina as if to hit her but kept her hands to herself for the moment, "You think you can just come in here and take our wands just like that? Don't get comfortable, you little Slytherin bitch. You're not fooling anyone. I see that mark on your arm. Here to take us to your precious lord? You'll have to get through me first!"

Audrina stood there as the red-headed girl practically screamed into her face. She kept her eyes on Ginny's as she took in her words. After a while she finally realized that her classmates had no idea that she was on their side. They were just blindly assuming that she was their enemy. That just wouldn't do.

"Who do I think I am?" Audrina said so loudly that everyone could hear, "Don't start with me, Honey. I had a long day which consisted of getting crucioed by Death Eaters and practically molested by the Dark Lord himself! You think I want that? No! Hell, you _must_ be stupid. I took this damn mark to help you lot! Are you fucking kidding me?"

She stopped to catch her breath and she smirked mentally when she saw Ginny step back from her. With a handful of wands still in her possession, she handed them over to Mrs. Weasley who was currently giving her a sympathetic look.

Before she knew it, she was being pulled in for the tightest hug she had ever experienced. Mrs. Weasley was hugging her so hard to the point where Audrina was afraid that she might break a couple of her ribs. What worried her more than that was the fact that she could feel hot tears on her shoulder. She never meant to upset anyone, especially not someone who was nice enough to let her into the Order despite her ties to the Dark Lord.

"My child, I am so sorry for what has happened to you today," the older witch said with tears spilling down her cheeks, "Thank you. Thank you for being on our side."

"You actually believe the load off blimey she's trying to sell us, Mum?" Ron bellowed from the other side of the room, "She's a Death Eater! The proof is right there!" To further prove his point, he motioned to the other three Slytherins in the room and announced that they were not welcome.

"Ronald Billius Weasley!" screamed so shrilly that Audrina nearly covered her ears to protect her ear drums from shattering, "You will apologize to these people at once! They have just spent Christmas with You-Know-Who and even had to take the dark mark even though it was not their choice. They did it for us! They're on our side!"

Instead of listening to his mother and apologizing, Ron stormed up the stairs to the room that he shared with Harry. They could hear the door slam and lock and all was silent. Narcissa and Mrs. Weasley took it upon themselves to break the tension and begin preparing dinner. Hermione felt that she would act as the buffer and she gave their guests a tour of the home. Ginny went to go help in the kitchen while Hermione lead the three Slytherins up the steps to their rooms.

"Sorry, I can't show you your room right now," she apologized to Draco and Blaise, "Ron's gone and locked the door. You'll be staying with him in the boys' room."

They continued down the hall to the girls' room where Audrina was given a bed to sleep on. She plopped herself on the bed and placed the one pillow that was given to her over her face and breathed in deeply. She could hear conversation going on but she wasn't understanding any of it. Right now all she wanted to do was relax and forget about everything that's happened.

"We should let her rest," Draco said as he looked over at Audrina, who appeared to be smothering herself, "She's had a bad day."

"Right," Hermione said a bit uncomfortably as she was going to be alone with the intimidating Slytherins without the company of another female, "Maybe we should help set the table before dinner."

"Sounds good to me," said Blaise and the three made their way down stairs to the dining room to lengthen the table and add four more chairs. Sometime between setting place mats and silverware, the trio found that they weren't all that different. Hermione found out that the seemingly cold Slytherins had a soft spot for their beloved Audrina just like Ron and Harry had a soft spot for her. She smiled inwardly as she thought about how much Draco loved the girl. Of course, he had never admitted it to her but that much was obvious. She also heard that Blaise had recently become involved with Luna Lovegood. What a match that was.

"So, Blaise," Hermione started, "Luna, huh?"

Blaise blushed slightly and was thankful for his mocha colored complexion.

"Yeah," he admitted while Draco snickered in the background, "She's lovely."

"That's so cute!" Hermioned cooed and Draco agreed with her sarcastically.

Narcissa walked into the dining room with a steaming pot of pasta in her hands as she went to go place it in the middle of the table. came bustling in after her with plates of food floating behind her as a delicious aroma of cooked food filled the room. Ginny followed with a freshly cooked ham in her hands, which she placed at the head of the table.

"I'm going to go call down the boys," announced before telling the group to take their seats, "Ginny, go call down Audrina. The poor girl must be starved. Did you see her arms? All skin and bones!"

Once her mother was out of sight, Ginny turned to the group and heard Draco and Blaise start up a conversation about how Audrina was definitely not just skin and bones. In fact, Draco made it his job to inform everyone that she was completely healthy and perfectly toned. Just the way he liked it.

His silvery eyes met hers and she took a breath before speaking.

"For the record," she began and Draco raised an eyebrow at her, "I don't hate you guys. At least, not anymore. But that doesn't mean I like you lot." After he had given her a nod of understanding, she took her leave and went off to call Audrina down for dinner.

Ginny approached the door of their room to knock on the door but saw that the door was already wide open. She watched from the doorway as Audrina bandaged her arm up and wiped away mascara tears that streamed down her face. She felt for the girl and as she began removing all of her make up, Ginny finally made herself known.

"Hey," Ginny said.

"Hey."

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier," Ginny began, "I didn't know."

Audrina finally looked up at the youngest Weasley and let a small smile grace her face. It wasn't everyday that she was able to make peace with someone- let alone a Weasley. It was refreshing to know that not everyone hated her for what she was now. She was a Death Eater but at least to the people that mattered, she was still Audrina, Slytherin bitch and all.

"We're straight," Audrina said simply and Ginny took a seat at the edge of her bed as Audrina changed into her soft pajamas. It was as if the tension in the house had suddenly ceased to exist. The anger that everyone felt was not at one another, but at the main cause of distress. Voldemort.

It was clear to everyone at this point that they were fighting against a common enemy. For what it's worth, he wasn't as keen on picking out his loyal followers as he thought.

"How did you stand it?" Ginny asked suddenly.

"Stand what?"

"How were you able to take it knowing that he was giving you the mark?"

Audrina sighed and wondered how she should word this. She didn't want to sound selfish but truthfully, she was scared for her life and would do anything to get herself out of that position. Obviously she thought about the cause she was fighting for and whose lives were a stake when she went in for the mark. Of course she didn't expect to be accepted by the Dark Lord so soon but things happen. When you're the daughter of Severus Snape and the girlfriend of Draco Malfoy, you better know that things won't turn out how you expect them to.

"I didn't have a choice," Audrina explained with tears brimming her eyes, "It still hurts like hell."

"I bet it does," Ginny agreed as she eyed the first aid kit that lied spread out on the ground.

"It looks like an ugly tattoo," Audrina said and Ginny let out a small chuckle.

Once the chuckling had subsided, the two girls sat in the room looking at one another. Their previous encounters at Hogwarts were not pretty. They were never friendly with one another whether it was on the quidditch pitch or in the corridors or across the Great Hall. Now, it was as if none of that had happened.

"It's time for dinner."

"Good," Audrina said, "Because I'm starved."


	11. Chapter 11: Dinner and a Sleepover

"Prettyboy!" Audrina yelled as she and Ginny practically skipped to the dinner table. Draco had turned his head to see that his girlfriend was in a much better mood and smiled. The smile quickly disappeared when he saw Audrina jump to hug Blaise instead of him.

"Oh. Hey, Draco," she jokingly said and placed a wet kiss on his cheek before taking her seat next to him. Ginny and Hermione witnessed the entire thing and were laughing at the pout on Draco's face. His grumpiness ceased to exist when Audrina took his hand in hers and he picked up their clasped hands to place a small kiss on the back of her hand. He smiled into the kiss and greeted her with a "Hello, Princess" which Mrs. Weasley and his mother thought that it was the most adorable thing exchange that they had ever witnessed. They voiced this to everyone in the room right when a certain boy-who-lived and his loyal servant decided to join them for Christmas dinner.

"Well isn't that sweet, Molly?" Narcissa cooed at the young couple and Mrs. Weasley answered with a "Absolutely charming!"

"Yuck!" Ron said as he crinkled his nose, "Take it outside, Malfoy."

Draco rolled his eyes at the hotheaded Gryffindor before starting up a conversation with Mrs. Weasley and his mother about how lovely the food smelled. Audrina however, took it upon herself to put Ron in his place. She shot daggers at him with her eyes and made a note to herself to make sure that he didn't get any dinner rolls.

"So, Audrina," Mrs. Weasley began, effectively breaking the glower that Audrina had on Ron, "How's your mother doing?"

"She's lovely," Audrina responded with a cheeky smile, "She's traveling the world. Right now I believe she's in Greece."

"That's wonderful," Mrs. Weasley said delighted, "And your father?"

"He's doing well," Audrina said with a slight sadness in her voice because she didn't know exactly where he was. All she knew was that he was with Lucius and that probably meant that they were with the Dark Lord.

"He's doing well with the Dark Lord you mean," Ron said with a snarky attitude, "Mind passing the dinner rolls, _Princess?_"

"Shut up, Ron," said Hermione from the other end of the table. Everyone turned to the bookworm in shock that she had told Ron to shut up. As far as everyone else was concerned, she was in love with the boy.

Ron grumbled to himself and dinner continued somewhat tense. Audrina did end up passing the dinner roll basket over to Ron but everyone had taken one for themselves when it was their turn to pass along the basket. By the time it got to Ron, there was nothing left.

The girls chattered on about their favorite makeup, perfumes, clothes and the like (well, Hermione listened but barely chipped in) while the conversation on the boys' side of the table was quite strained. There was clearly tension between the four boys that had been building over an amount of years. Surprisingly, it was Harry who opted to cut through some of that tension.

"Having a Happy Christmas, Malfoy?" he asked and Draco nearly dropped his silverware. Blaise was also shocked but kept his composure while Ron almost lost his head and thumped Harry on the shoulder.

"Harry!" Ron whispered harshly, "Don't conversate with the enemy! That's bloody Malfoy!"

Harry merely lifted and eyebrow at his hotheaded friend and shrugged slightly. He no longer thought that Draco could be all bad if he was on their side. If someone could sacrifice themselves to the Dark Lord just to get in on his inside circle to help the Order, he was all for being their friend.

"First off Weasley," Draco drawled, "It's _converse. _Conversate is not a word," Blaise scoffed to himself as Draco turned to Harry and responded, "Yes, Potter, I'm having a lovely Christmas. And you?"

"I've had better," Harry said and Ron was practically foaming at the mouth in agony, "What about you, Zabini?"

"It's been okay," Blaise admitted, "Wish Luna was here though."

"Ah," Harry replied, "I heard about that. Finally settling down, eh?"

Blaise nodded despite knowing that Harry was only joking around with him. Draco gave him a slight punch in the shoulder to show his support in a manly way and Ron rolled his eyes. He did not understand how someone could know who they wanted to be with at such a young age.

"Now that's just a load of shite," Ron announced, "You couldn't possibly be serious."

"I think Blaise is being completely serious," Hermione interrupted, "He and Luna are no joke."

"Oh please," Ron argued, "They haven't been together for a month."

"That doesn't mean anything," Draco joined in on the conversation, "Blaise hadn't been with a witch for more than a night before Luna."

"He'll tire of her eventually," Ron stated, "I give it three months at most."

"That's a terrible thing to say, Weasley!" Audrina interjected, "Draco and I are almost at four months and we never tire of one another."

"That's right," Draco said and he placed a soft kiss on her temple, "I'll never tire of you. Ever."

"Aw," Ginny said before grabbing Harry's hand in hers. It was so nice to see another couple feel as strongly for each other as Harry and Ginny did.

"You lot are too young to know what you're talking about," Ron said assuredly.

"Really, Ron?" Harry asked, "Because I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to know that I'm in love with your sister."

"That's different," Ron said, attempting to backtrack.

"How is it different, Ronald?" Hermione asked furiously blinking back tears. She had originally thought that Ron felt the same way about her as she did for him but now that he had voiced his opinion on relationships and love to the entire table, she wasn't so sure.

"Harry and Ginny have pretty much known they were going to be together since they were thirteen or so. I'm sure none of us have ever felt that way about anyone."

With that, Hermione excused herself from the table quickly. She stood up briskly and made her way up the stairs to the girls' room while the rest of the dinner table watched her go. Silence quickly ensued before Draco spoke first.

"Wow. You really are an idiot, Weasley."

"Agreed," Harry said angrily, "You know 'Mione has been in love with you ever since second year! How can you say that?"

"What?" Ron asked stupidly trying to defend himself, "It's not my fault that I don't feel the same way about her."

Ginny and Audrina both sent him looks of disgust and left the table to go check up on Hermione. The two girls practically raced up the steps to the closed door of the girls' bedroom. Audrina looked over at Ginny and the two entered the room together.

"Why doesn't he love me?" Hermione asked and began to sob uncontrollably into Ginny's arms. Ginny attempted to shush her for a half hour before Hermione could finally form words.

"Why can't we have what you and Harry have, Gin?" Hermione questioned while looking at herself in the mirror. She inwardly cringed at her appearance and then turned to Audrina. "Even you have what I want. And with Malfoy!"

Hermione began to cry some more and in between sniffles, she asked the two, "What's so wrong about me?"

Ginny frowned at her friend and held her tighter.

"Nothing is wrong with you, Hermione. Nothing. It's Ron. He's not seeing what everyone else sees," she explained and Hermione vigorously shook her head.

"No, Gin, it's not that," Hermione persisted, "I'm just not pretty enough for him. I'm not good enough."

At this point, Audrina was tired of Hermione feeling sorry for herself. She couldn't understand why someone like Hermione was with a buffoon like Ron. Hermione was smart yet she settled for an idiot. She was a kind person and yet she was with someone who took every opportunity to comment on any slight flaw that she may have. She was beautiful but she never felt it. She allowed herself to slip into misery. Who wants to be with someone who makes them feel like that?

She knew how it felt to be unwanted. At a very young age, Audrina had given her virginity to a boy in her class who didn't like her as much as she had originally thought. For months, she felt as if she were useless and unworthy. It wasn't until she met Draco that she finally felt confident and comfortable with herself. Hermione deserved someone like that.

"Good grief, woman!" Audrina shouted and took Hermione's chin into her hand, forcing the girl to look at her, "You are a fantastic catch! If Ronald Weasley is too daft to see that, then he can bugger off! Plenty of fish in the sea. Let's keep it moving, yea?"

"She's right you know," Ginny added, "There are other guys out there who would love to be with you, 'Mione. You're lovely. Don't let Ron bring you down."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _

_Meanwhile...in the dining room.._

"Mum! Ronnie boy! Gin! We're here!" Two practically identical voices shouted out in harmony and entered the dining room. The twins both grabbed handfuls of food before going to greet their mother with a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't until they went to go hug Ron that they noticed the other people in the room.

"Malfoy?" Fred cried out.

"Zabini?" George screamed in surprise.

"Mrs. Malfoy?" The two simultaneously addressed the elegant woman sitting next to their mother.

Draco and Blaise both waved at the Weasley twins while Narcissa gave them both a smile. The twins took that as a sign of peace and proceeded to ask where everyone else was while Narcissa and Mrs. Weasley went off to wash dishes and clean up.

"Where's Gin?" Fred asked Harry.

"Where's 'Mione?" George asked Ron.

Harry shrugged and pointed upstairs to the girls' room and Ron didn't answer George's question. George looked around to see if anyone would answer his question and decided that Ron must have done something wrong.

"What did you do this time, Ronnie boy?" George asked before Ron blew up about the entire fiasco at dinner.

"She's gone and overreacted about something I said, George! Girls are crazy, you know." Ron held his head up defiantly while his brothers shook their heads at him.

"Oh Ron," Fred began and George finished for him, "You're just stupid."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x

"You'll find someone else," Ginny assured her friend.

"Someone so much better," Audrina added.

"Someone smarter."

"And sweeter."

"And hotter."

"Someone all around perfect for you, Hermione," Audrina finished, "Someone who deserves you."

"Thanks guys," Hermione said dejectedly, "Can we talk about something else? Preferably something that has nothing to do with my relationship with Ronald?"

"Of course," the two other girls said.

"Let's talk about Blaise and Luna!" Ginny said excitedly and Hermione fed off of that enthusiasm.

"Oh yes," Hermione said, "They are so cute! How did they get together in the first place?"

"Oh it's such an adorable story," Audrina began, "Blaise was walking my dog, Libby, trying to pick up a witch or two," Hermione and Ginny both rolled their eyes at Blaise's antics before Audrina could continue telling the story, "When Libby goes off running towards Luna, tangling herself between Luna's legs!"

Ginny and Hermione looked at Audrina expectantly and Audrina laughed slightly before going on, "So Blaise is there trying to untangle Libby from Luna and when he finally does it. And then he looks up and sees Luna smiling down at him, glasses and all and he just knew."

"Knew what?" Hermione pestered.

"Knew that Luna was the one for him. He says that it's something about the way her hair blew in her face and she didn't care to push it back. He loves Libby to death for bringing them together."

"That's lovely," Ginny said, "When do we get to meet this Libby?"

Just then, they heard squeals coming from downstairs. Audrina heard a familiar barking and jumped up to go see if her ears were fooling her. Hermione and Ginny quickly followed her, wands at the ready and nearly fell down the stairs laughing at what they saw.

Ronald Weasley was running around the living room with Libby hot on his heels barking at him while he squealed like a little girl. Blaise, Draco, Fred, and George laughed at him. Draco and Blaise were on the floor, pounding their fists on the ground from laughing so hard while Fred and George had to hold their stomachs because they were beginning to cramp up. Ron had then jumped up on the couch, knowing that such a small dog wouldn't be able to jump up and get him. Fred took it upon himself to have some more fun with his brother and went over to help the dog out. He picked Libby up gently but before he could put her down on the couch, she had nuzzled herself into his neck, licking his chin.

"You're a pretty little one, aren't you? Fred asked Libby and began to pet her, "Who do you belong to?"

"She's mine," Audrina said and came to get her precious pet.

George and Fred both looked at the unfamiliar girl hugging her dog and smiled at one another.

"And you are.."

"Audrina Alvarez," she said simply and let Libby down. Libby excitedly made her way to Blaise and Draco who were still on the ground after laughing their arses off at Ron. She licked both of their faces and jumped up on their backs in pure excitement to have some of her favorite people in the same room as her. Libby then made her way back to Fred, moving her tiny legs as quickly as she could before pawing at his pant leg, begging for him to pet her again.

This time George picked her up and the twins began to pet her gently as Libby encouraged them by cuddling in closer to George.

"Looks like Libby really likes you two," Audrina observed and Draco and Blaise both stood up to join Ron on the couch to make fun of his reaction to Libby.

"So, Audrina Alvarez," Fred said smoothly and George picked up where he left off, "What brings you here on Christmas?"

Audrina opened her mouth to answer them but Fred interrupted her before she could get a word out.

"Ah! George, she's our gift from Father Christmas!" Fred and George proceeded to thank Father Christmas for getting them exactly what they wanted and Audrina let out a loud laugh and Hermione and Ginny laughed with her.

"Actually," Draco came in and wrapped his arms around Audrina from behind, "She's mine."

George looked at Draco and Audrina and a look of realization came across his face. "Of course!"

"How could we have missed it before, George?"

"I don't know, Fred! It was staring us right in the face!"

"What was?" Audrina asked confused.

"Dark hair.." George said as he played with a piece of Audrina's hair.

"Slytherin.." Fred said as he eyed the girl's pajamas.

"Malfoy's girl!" They yelled in unison and Libby barked out in confirmation.

"What are you two going on about?" Draco asked, just as confused as Audrina was.

"Well," Fred answered, "There seems to be a pattern here."

"I agree, Fred," George said, "Malfoy here has a thing for dark haired slytherin girls. Am I right?"

"Right you are, my dear brother," Fred said, "Let's see. First there was Pansy.."

"Then there was that Greengrass girl, I forget which one.."

"And now there's Audrina!"

Audrina looked back at Draco with an eyebrow raised.

"You two are barking mad," Draco said with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"They do have a point," Audrina said before pinching Draco's cheek to let him know that she was joking. Hermione and Ginny came down to join them and play with Libby and Mrs. Weasley came in to bring the kids some hot cocoa.

"Audrina, dear, your father just stopped by to drop Libby off. He told me to tell you that he'll see you back at school when the break is over," Mrs. Weasley said with a sad smile on her face as she placed the tray of hot cocoa on the coffee table.

"Your dad works at Hogwarts?" Fred questioned her.

"Yes, he's a professor there," Audrina informed them.

"What does he teach?" George asked, wondering if her father hadd taught them before.

"Potions," Audrina said nonchalantly.

"But.."

"Snape teaches potions.."

"This is true," Audrina said as if she was talking to a small child before taking a mug of steaming hot cocoa for herself.

"SNAPE IS YOUR DAD?"

"BUT..HOW?"

"WHAT!"

"HE'S SO..AND YOU'RE SO.."

"She's so what?" Draco demanded to know.

"Sorry, Malfoy," Fred said, "But she's just so bloody hot that it's kind of hard to believe that she's the spawn of Snape himself!"

"Hey!" Draco protested and Audrina laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Hush," she said, "I am pretty good looking if I may say so myself."

"So humble and modest," Ginny said and laughed a bit.

The group began to laugh about nonsense and enjoy their Chrismas together while Ron and Hermione were left to a corner of the room to talk.

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Mione.."

"Yes you did," Hermione said with her eyes closed. She didn't want to look at him and lose her courage, "Ron, I don't think we're good for one another."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, clearly surprised.

"You're not happy with me and I'm not happy with you," Hermione said and finally opened her eyes to see anger in his.

"Well maybe if you wouldn't be such a prude then I'd be happier with you!" He shouted which alerted the rest of the people in the room, George especially. "Honestly! Did you expect me to be happy with someone who doesn't put out? I bet Malfoy's girl puts out for him and they've only known each other for months!"

"Draco treats her right!" Hermione fought back, "Don't you get it? I'm so tired of being in a one sided relationship!"

"So what?" Ron said, "You want to break up? Is that it?"

"Yes, Ron. I want to break up. This obviously isn't working out."

Ron said nothing but threw his empty mug at the wall and walked up to the boys' room. George quickly made his way to Hermione to shower her in hugs and make sure she was alright. Audrina cleaned up the mess from the broken mug before anyone stepped in it and the rest of them sat down on the couch, awkwardly sipping their hot cocoa.

"So.." Fred said as he attempted to make conversation, "What do you suppose we do now?"

"Let's have a sleepover!" Ginny suggested and Audrina loved the idea.

"Oooo! Let's build a fort to sleep in!" Audrina said and the guys voiced their approval before going upstairs to grab blankets and pillows.


	12. Chapter 12: The Proposal

"It was wonderful having you all, dears," Mrs. Weasley cooed at the group of Slytherins standing before her on the platform, "Feel free to visit the burrow anytime. In trouble or not."

Audrina stood at the back of the group looking out distantly along the tracks, fiercely trying to hold back her tears. This woman, this lovely woman standing before her acted as though she was one of her own. She treated Audrina with all the respect in the world and gave her the love and support that she needed when she needed it most.

She was going to miss Mrs. Weasley, who insisted that she call her Molly but they compromised and Audrina now addressed her as "Miss Molly". She was going to miss their early morning chats in the kitchen as the older witch would bustle around the room preparing a breakfast feast while Audrina sat at the table, filling out a crossword. She was going to miss their mid-morning walks where Mrs. Weasley would fawn over Libby and cautiously hold her leash as if Libby might suddenly run off somewhere. But what Audrina was going to miss the most was Mrs. Weasley coming into their room before bedtime and kissing her on the forehead, just like her mother had. The way that woman looked at her without judgment despite the dark mark engraved into her arm gave her hope that maybe there would be other people out there who wouldn't treat her as if she was scum because of that retched mark.

"Miss Molly," Audrina said shakily before running into the woman's arms, "I'm going to miss you so much."

The group of students that she had spent Christmas with quickly formed a circle around the two hysterical women, hoping to shield the sight from unwelcome eyes. These days you could never be too careful. A newly recruited death eater in the arms of a Weasley was definitely something to talk about and none of them wanted to have to explain that to the Dark Lord if he ever found out.

Once the two separated, Draco lead Audrina away from Mrs. Weasley and onto the train. With one look back, she waved at the older witch and was given a sad smile. Draco gave Mrs. Weasley a nod and Blaise gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before following his fellow Slytherins to their compartment.

Back on the platform, the Weasleys with the addition of Harry and Hermione were having a farewell party of their own. The twins playfully punched their youngest brother from each side before passing him off to their mum, who sternly told him to mind himself and give Hermione some space for the time being. She had heard about the break up and was very serious about keeping the two away from one another for the remainder of their break. Besides meals, the two didn't see each other. They never spoke and for that, Hermione was grateful.

Mrs. Weasley sent Ron off onto the train where he joined Dean Thomas in his compartment, effectively staying true to his word on keeping away from Hermione.

Fred and George then moved on to Ginny and ruffled her hair just a bit to make her grumble words under her breath.

"Good for nothing brothers.." she said before walking off to say goodbye to her mother.

"Have fun!" Fred yelled out to her and looked to Harry who was watching Ginny attempt to fix her hair lovingly.

"But not too much fun," the twins warned him, "Or else, Potter."

Harry looked quite fearful as the twins rounded up on him. It wasn't until they let out a laugh that he let out a breath of relief.

Laughing, Fred clasped a hand on Harry's shoulder and walked him over to his mum so she could squeeze the living daylights out of the boy-who-lived.

And then there were two. Hermione shifted nervously on her feet as George stepped closer to her. With his hands in his pockets, he unconsciously shifted his weight from the balls of his feet to the heels of his toes. They both looked at one another and laughed. They were acting silly.

After years of being friends it was as if they suddenly weren't themselves anymore. In a sense they weren't. There Hermione stood, no longer under the impression that one day she would be the wife of Ron Weasley. She was no longer under his spell. Now she could be her own woman. She didn't need to worry about him failing his classes or falling off of his broom or running off with other girls. She had never felt so free.

And there he stood. Tall and lean, towering over Hermione by almost an entire foot. He had always been the funny guy. He and his brother were always joking around with everyone- even her. But now it was different. He had seen Hermione in a new light. That night that she had broken it off with Ron, he realized something. Not only was he completely protective of her, but he never wanted anyone to hurt her again. He didn't care if Ron was his brother or not. No one would break her heart.

He would never break her heart.

"George," she said finally.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked, glad that she could tell the difference between him and his brother.

"You have this adorable little freckle underneath your chin," she answered automatically and immediately regretted it, "Forget I said anything!"

George smiled at her and felt this weird sort of giddiness inside of him upon seeing her blush.

"Will I be seeing you soon, Hermione?" he asked hopefully. George knew that it was way too soon to be making a move on her- after all, she had just broken up with his brother a week ago but he just had to know when he would be seeing her next.

"Every chance I get, big guy," she said and smiled. The blush seemed to permanently stain her face as he bent down to place a gentle kiss on her slightly pink cheek. He waved to her before she got sucked into the bear hug that Mrs. Weasley had given her and laughed alongside Fred who he caught eyeing a couple of Slytherin girls.

"So, Hermione huh?" Fred asked his twin with a knowing glint in his eye.

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"Hi, Daddy," Audrina said cheerfully as she walked into the potions classroom twenty minutes early, "How are you?"

A very tired looking Draco and an equally sluggish looking Blaise followed her into the classroom only barely making it to the back desk before collapsing into the seats.

"I am feeling less than content," he replied and looked at the forming frown on his daughters face before catching himself, "But the day is still young. How was your Christmas?"

"It was wonderful," Audrina said before prattling on about how wonderful the Weasleys were to her and what not but all Snape could focus on was the two idiots slobbering all over his desks.

"Your idiot is drooling," he pointed out and Audrina quickly made her way over to Draco to wake him up. He noticed that when she stood up straight, her hand went directly to cover her forearm, where he knew the dark mark was carved into her skin. His attention turned to Draco, who was awakening and stretching his long arms in every direction. He also noticed that the boy quickly drew back his left arm as if it stung to move it.

He felt pity for them. Although there was no way that he could have stopped the Dark Lord from marking them without blowing his cover, he still felt as though it was his fault. He couldn't help but feel guilty that Audrina was in this whole mess because in a way, it was his fault. She was his daughter and he should have protected her better.

Students began to fill the room and he resigned to his office to gather the plans for today's lesson. As he began writing instructions on the board, he was unaware of the conversation taking place in the back of the room.

"Are you going to do it?" Blaise asked Draco as Draco kept his eyes on the back of Audrina's head. Today she was sitting by Hermione, most likely sharing notes and chattering on about Hermione's newfound crush on George Weasley. Sheesh, what was up with that girl and Weasley boys?

"Do what?" Draco said annoyed even though he knew exactly what Blaise was talking about.

"Are you going to ask Snape?"

"And say what exactly? Hey Snape, you're a cool guy and all, by the way can I marry your daughter?" Draco whispered back sarcastically before rolling his eyes and reading what was written on the board.

"Well you're going to have to ask him one way or another," Blaise went on, "Because if you don't, Snape is going to kick your sorry arse."

Draco sank back into his seat as he contemplated how he would go about asking permission from Snape to marry his only daughter. He had the ring already in his pocket and had even planned out the whole proposal. All that he had to do was ask the man the damn question and move on with his life. If only it were that easy..

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Bring your completed potions to the front of the room. I will have your marks ready for you all tomorrow. Class dismissed."

Draco uncertainly stood up on his feet and told Audrina to go ahead onto lunch without him. In a matter of seconds the class was cleared out and he approached his professor with caution.

"Yes, Mister Malfoy," Snape's voice called out, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Draco stuttered before answering, "Yes, yes sir. There is. I wanted to ask you something. Something very important, sir."

"Well," Snape said in a drawling voice, "Out with it."

"I would like to ask for your daughter's hand, sir."

Snape stood in front of the young Malfoy, completely stunned at what the boy had just said to him. Of course, he knew that this day would come for it was inevitable, but he did not expect that it would be so soon. He wanted to say no and that he would have to wait for Audrina to become of age but he knew that was of no use. Besides, the Dark Lord had already made it clear that he wanted Audrina to himself on the night of her seventeenth birthday.

To be completely honest with himself, Snape knew that Draco was the best choice that there would ever be for his little girl. He took a deep breath before giving the younger wizard an answer.

"You have my blessing," he said and before the boy could speak his thanks he gave him a warning, "But if you ever hurt her, I will throw you in a cage of starving hippogriffs. Do I make myself clear to you, boy?"

"Crystal, sir!" Draco yelled before running out of the room in search of his girlfriend. He ran all the way to the Great Hall before stopping in front of the Slytherin table. He searched up and down the table before finally laying eyes on her and without hesitation, he practically picked her up out of her seat. She gathered herself and looked at him questioningly before he took her hand and hurriedly took her outside of the castle.

They ran until they reached a particularly large tree in front of the lake. He was out of breath and so was she. On top of being completely confused as to why he brought her out here, Audrina was worrying that Draco might have finally lost his marbles.

"Are you okay, babe?" she asked as he gathered himself together. She checked his temperature and he outwardly smiled at the gesture.

"Never better," he answered, "I just need you to tell me one thing.."

"What is it?" she asked before he dropped to one knee and reached into his pocket to pull out a small little green box. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

This was unreal. Ever since she first became Draco's girlfriend in that train compartment all those months ago, she had been dreaming that one say this would really happen to her. She felt like all the wind had been knocked out of her.

"I want this forever," he started and she felt the tears rush to the brim of her eyes, "Will you marry me?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx

Audrina didn't know what to say. She wanted so badly to say yes and make him happy but she knew she couldn't do that. It wasn't that she didn't want to commit to him. She just didn't want to get married. To anyone. Ever.

After being raised by her single mother, she realized that marriage just wasn't going to be for her. She never dreamed of a white wedding or the perfect husband because she didn't want any of that. She just wanted someone who loved her as much as she loved them. And she found that. Why couldn't they just leave it like that? They didn't need a stupid title to prove their love.

Her mother and father made the mistake of getting married. It lasted about a year and they separated right after she was born. Not even a child could save their marriage. She ended up being raised by only her mother, as her father lived halfway around the world from them. Her parents barely ever spoke. It was a shame to know that two people who had been so in love, had given up on all of it. She wouldn't make that same mistake.

"Draco, I can't," she said as her lip quivered.

"You're saying no?" he asked confused by her answer. He was so sure that she would say yes that he didn't know how to react.

"I don't believe in marriage," she said with tears falling down her cheeks. It felt as though her eyes would never run dry.

"I see," he said and he tucked the ring back into his pocket before retreating to the castle alone.


	13. Chapter 13: Runaway

Audrina tossed and turned in her own bed, lost in a nightmare where Draco left her. She frowned in her sleep, unaware of the presence at the foot of her bed post. Her breaths were erratic as she breathed in and out quickly, almost hyperventilating.

A hand emerged from the invisibility cloak to cover her mouth before she could scream out. The intruder pulled the cloak back to reveal their face and to shush her. Audrina suddenly stopped struggling against the intruder in revelation of who it was.

"Ginny?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Shhhhh," Ginny whispered somewhat rushed as she looked around the room to see if any of Audrina's room mates had stirred. Once she saw that none of them seemed to have heard anything, she continued, "We need to get out of here. I'll explain soon enough."

Ginny lifted the invisibility cloak enough for Audrina to crawl underneath the fabric and cover herself. The two girls carefully made their way to the door and exited the room swiftly. Once they were in the common room, they were met by the last person Audrina would have thought.

Her father.

She emerged from the cloak to approach him. He stood there in front of the fireplace, seemingly engulfed by the green flames that burned there. She lightly tapped his shoulder and forgot all about the strange encounter with Ginny in the room now that an even stranger thing was happening.

"Daddy?" she called out when he didn't respond to the tap on his shoulder. She heard him take a deep breath before turning to her and placing both of his hands on her shoulders.

"I packed you a bag," he said to her before wiping a lone tear from his cheek.

"For what?" she asked, confused as to why he would pack her a bag. She wasn't going anywhere. Not at this very moment anyway. Right?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You're leaving," he said simply and Audrina was taken aback. Why would she be leaving? She was in the middle of her sixth year. She had so much to look forward to. She was silent with hundreds of thoughts circling around in her head and Snape continued.

"You're going to go to the burrow, where I have left your things," he carried on and she listened intently, "I have only packed the essentials. And then you'll be off to find your mother. Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, and Miss Lovegood will be accompanying you on your trip."

It was moments before Audrina spoke.

"But why?" she asked, clearly hurt by the tone in her voice, "Why can't I stay?"

Snape took a shaky breath before answering her. She had to leave to be safe. Hogwarts wouldn't be enough protection for her. She couldn't just stay there like a sitting duck. The Dark Lord could strike at any time and would not hesitate to take her away from him. This was their only option.

"He'll come for you soon enough," Snape said sadly and Audrina felt her blood go cold. It seemed that just when everything seemed to be going well for her, the Dark Lord came in at just the right time to ruin everything.

She had been so caught up with her new engagement that she had allowed her defenses to be lowered. She thought that she was untouchable. She had been so wrong.

She nodded her head in understanding and allowed the tears to flow down her cheeks as she thought about how she would have to leave everything behind. She would be leaving everything that she loved here. Her father would have to stay and serve the Dark Lord alongside the army of Death Eaters until who knows when. Libby would have to stay here as well for it would not be practical to bring a dog on a long journey to wherever it was that her mother was staying at the moment. And then there was Draco. Did he even know she was leaving? She would have to leave him behind. She didn't know how she would survive it.

But that would have to change now.

Ginny threw the invisibility cloak over the top of Audrina's head and gently lead her to the outside of the castle, where Hermione and Luna were waiting for her.

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Draco woke up that morning feeling sore and grumpy. That all changed when he stretched his arms out and was pleased that the mark on his arm no longer burned when the skin was stretched slightly. He quickly made his way to the bathroom to shower and whistled all through his morning routine.

Why was he so happy? After all, it wasn't like Audrina had accepted his marriage proposal. But he had put that in the back of his mind, convincing himself that he had just asked her too early into their relationship. Today was Audrina's seventeenth birthday and he had the perfect present for her. He couldn't wait to give it to her.

He hurriedly slipped on his uniform before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. In his pocket lay a pair of tickets to her hometown in Costa Rica. He smiled at the thought of her face when she saw them.

"Oi, mate," Blaise called, "Seen Luna around by any chance?"

"No," Draco responded, confused as to why Blaise was asking him of all people, "Lost your girl already, mate?" he joked.

"Not funny," Blaise replied seriously and turned to whisper in Draco's ear, "I haven't seen Granger or Little Weasley either."

"What?" he asked incredulously, "Where could they be?"

"Dunno," Blaise said, "But Potter and Weasley are over there freaking the fuck out. Something must have happened last night and I just hope Luna wasn't a part of it."

It was then that Blaise and Draco both looked up to the front table and saw Snape give them a look. Snape then made his exit from the Great Hall into the corridors towards the dungeons. The two boys followed quickly after.

"Professor!" Blaise called out, "Wait!"

Snape slowed down his pace so that the boys could walk with him to his room. Once they entered the potions classroom, Snape took a quick look around the hallways and made sure that no one was in sight. He locked the doors and put a silencing spell over the room for good measure.

"Do you know where Audrina is?" Draco blurted out, "I haven't seen her all morning."

"Yeah same with Luna," Blaise added.

"They're gone," Snape said and before Blaise and Draco could lose their shits in his classroom, Snape added, "They were in danger here. All four of them."

"Four?" Draco asked, not understanding what Snape meant.

"Yes," the professor admitted, "Audrina and Miss Lovegood are with Miss Granger and Miss Weasley."

"Where did they go?" Draco found himself asking, practically begging.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you."

Draco looked up to his professor in disbelief before leaving the room. He kicked the doors open in anger and frustration and walked down the halls alone as he fingered the tickets that still lay within his pocket.

First she says no to marrying him and now she leaves him? If she wanted to break up with him, she could have just said so.


	14. Chapter 14: The Big Apple

**Rewritten! Please go back and reread the previous chapters so this makes sense! Thanks so much for your time. -D**

_At Hogwarts..._

"I wonder where they are.." said Blaise as he picked at his food. He looked over at his best mate, whose head was laying on the table, his food untouched. He instantly felt bad for the fellow. First, his girlfriend rejects his proposal, then runs away, and now he doesn't know what to do with himself. He couldn't imagine how difficult it must be for him. Hell, he had been with Luna only a month and he was waiting in agony for any word of where she may be. If she would even send word. He really had no idea.

"Cheer up, mate," Blaise said after receiving no response from the expressionless blonde, "I'm sure she's fine." After moments of awkward silence as students began to clear out of the Great Hall, Draco finally turned over to look at Blaise, head still on the table.

"How can I cheer up?" he asked and Blaise had no idea how to respond. How does one cheer up their best mate after a heart break? Hell if he knew. Draco had never been in love before. He had never had his heart broken. He was never in situations like this. And Blaise was at a loss.

"We could go out to Hogsmede," Blaise suggested and elbowed Draco lightly in an attempt to lighten his spirits, "Ya know, a guys night. Out of the castle. Just us- or maybe I'll invite Theo and some of our other friends, yea?"

Draco simply sighed and gathered his things before heading off to class mopishly.

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"What do we tell him when he asks about where she is, Severus?" Lucius Malfoy said cautiously as he sat in the family room of Malfoy Manor. The room was usually left unused but since they were in times where you never knew who was listening or lurking around somewhere, it was better to be safe than sorry. Lucius took an analyzing look around the room and whispered once more.

"Severus? Severus, are you listening?"

"Yes, I heard what you said, Lucius," Snape said in a voice that sounded foreign to him, "We tell him that she ran away. That we don't know where she went."

"Do you think he'll believe us?" Lucius asked as he struggled to keep a composed expression on his face. Inside, he was panicking. What if the Dark Lord could see through their lies? What if word had gotten to him that Audrina was sent away- with the enemies no less? Or even worse, what if it had gotten out that Audrina and Draco were an item? What would happen to his son?

"For our sakes, I do hope so."

As if the conversation never happened, the two Death Eaters began a new conversation that centered about the lack of funding for the potions department at Hogwarts. Narcissa Malfoy walked in nonchalantly and slipped a folded piece of parchment underneath Snape's teacup, making sure to ease into the conversation as if she had heard it all. Snape took the parchment into his hands, mentioned something about the lack of bat spleens and eel eyes, and carefully placed the parchment into his coat pocket.

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"Ahem," spoke a voice from an abandoned classroom in a corridor leading to the Slytherin dungeons. Pretending as if he did not hear anything, Draco Malfoy cautiously made his way to the common room with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. To whomever was calling out to him, he was just not in the mood.

"Ahem!" spoke the voice again and Draco stopped walking to roll his eyes. Hopefully this random person could see him rolling his eyes and would take the hint. He did not want to talk to anyone right now. Especially not some creepy weirdo lurking in an abandoned hallway. Seriously.

"Eh hem.." the voice said slightly annoyed.

"What!" Draco finally said as he dropped his bag on the ground and looked in the direction of the voice. Whoever was trying to get his attention succeeded, but at a cost. Now he was in a foul mood. An even more foul mood than he was in the first place.

"Come here, boy," the voice said and immediately Draco knew he had snapped at the wrong person. The blonde Slytherin reluctantly made his was into the empty classroom to await his doom. He opened the door slightly before taking a look around thee room. He got a weird sense of nostalgia and began to wonder when he had been in here before.

"I've received word from Audrina," said Snape as he emerged from the shadows of the room. Draco nearly jumped out of his skin but managed to keep his cool as he watched Snape retrieve a small note from his robes. The older wizard handed the paper to his student and observed the boy's reaction as he read it.

Draco was confused. He unfolded the note and began to read it but he was hopelessly lost. Was Snape serious? On the small piece of pink paper, undoubtedly from Audrina, were words of some sort. He didn't even know if they could be considered words.

_N da bg app rt nao. Off 2 TX suun. Ai em gud. Dnt wrry. _

_Luv, A_

"What is this even supposed to mean?" questioned Draco as he attempted to decode the message. Perhaps there was some sort of pattern he was missing?

"That's what I said when I first read it," admitted Snape as he shook his head, "But after hours of muggle research, I have broken the code. It's written in muggle slang. She has sent word in this slang so that if the message was intercepted, it would be unlikely that anyone would be able to understand it."

After a moment of appreciating the sly thinking of his girlfriend wondering if by chance this was Granger's idea, he asked what the message meant once more.

"She's in New York City right now," Snape explained and Draco almost laughed at how easy it was to figure out the message once you got the hang of it.

"And she's off to Texas soon," Draco finished for his professor and began to feel excited. He knew where she was! And where she was headed to! Now all he had to do was sneak off to go join her..

"I want you to find her," Snape said and Draco was momentarily speechless. He had originally thought that Snape believed it wasn't a good idea for them to be together. Especially now that she was on the run and the Dark Lord would be chasing after her. But hey, he wasn't complaining.

"When do I leave?"

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"Do we actually have to get jobs?" asked Ginny as she walked alongside her companions in the Big Apple. She, along with Luna and Hermione, stopped for a moment to appreciate the scenery that was Times Square. She could live here forever. Maybe Harry would take a liking to it also and they could move out here one day.

"Yes, Gin," said Audrina who was leading the pack, walking by her lonesome. She stopped to turn and watch her new friends as they watched the city, mesmerized, "We have to make some cash so we can have somewhere to stay as we travel. We only have pocket money for a couple of nights."

"So why don't we just buy one of those car thingies and drive it to wherever your mom is staying?" Ginny asked, still confused as to why she had to get a job. To her knowledge, their mission was to run away from danger. Not stay in one place and make a living.

"Gin, it doesn't work that way," Hermione said and began to explain how a car works to Ginny and Luna, who were being avid listeners. Audrina began to scope out a place where there might be openings for jobs when she spotted the perfect place.

"First, you would have to make a down payment, then you'd have to think about money for gas- which is not cheap by the way- and Audrina and I would have to take turns driving, that is, assuming that she has her license...and we would have to sleep in the car-" Hermione went on explaining why they couldn't just take a car to get to where they were going.

"Follow me!" Audrina said and broke out into a run towards a mall on the corner of a street. She was moving so fast that Hermione, Luna, and Ginny almost lost her in the crowd. If it weren't for her unmistakable pink glittery back pack, they would have lost track of where she was. The fact that she was running in a crowd of unbelievably tall people did not help the situation at all.

Finally, the girls all made it to the front of the mall and Audrina pushed the doors open and walked in. She breathed in the air, smelling the different aromas of fast food, new shoes, and dare she say it- a bargain? Well, bargain hunting would have to wait. Right now they were hunting for jobs.

"There has to be job openings for us somewhere around here.." Audrina mumbled to herself just as the other girls caught up to her, panting.

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"Blaise!" Draco yelled as he stumbled into the Three Broomsticks, eager to tell his best mate of the new plan. They were going to hit the road. Soon.

"Draco!" Blaise shouted nervously, "Look, mate, I know I promised a guys night.. but you see, everyone was busy and I didn't want you to think this night was a bust so I called in reinforcements..."

"What are you talking about?" Draco said as he looked at his friend weirdly, "Nevermind, look. We're going to go find the girls!"

Draco began to uncontrollably tap his foot on the ground as he waited in excitement for Blaise's reaction. Why wasn't he jumping up for joy? Wasn't he happy to be able to get out and find Luna? Draco knew he sure was happy to get out and find Audrina.

"Oi! Malfoy!" shouted two nearly identical voices as the Weasley twins entered the Three Broomsticks, "Room for two more?"

"You brought them to guys night?" Draco questioned as Blaise scratched at the back of his head.

"It doesn't matter," Blaise said and motioned for them to all take their seats at the nearest booth, "Now tell me more about this plan of yours. Going away, are we?"

"Maybe.." Draco said as he eyes the twins suspiciously. He was told not to tell anyone else but Blaise about the plan. He wondered if he could trust the twins.

"Oh don't turn shy on us now, Malfoy," said Fred as he ordered a butterbeer for everyone at the table, "We can keep a secret."

"Yeah," joined George," And if it has anything to do with our dearest little sister and Hermione, I suggest you spill your guts."

Spill his guts? How graphic. Draco supposed that he could tell them about his plans to take a little trip to Texas. What's the harm? Draco told them all of the details from the note to the things that he would need to get before he left for Texas in a month. After all, Snape did tell him it would take approximately that amount of time for Audrina and the others to get down there.

"A road trip?" Fred asked.

"Count us in!" said George.

Uh oh.

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"Are you sure about this, Audrina?" asked Luna as she began to dress in a matching apron- hat set. She and Hermione would be working at a smoothie stand in the middle of the mall to make some spare cash to put towards bus tickets to Texas. She looked at her reflection in her pocket mirror and adjusted her hat so that it was slightly crooked, "I mean, I don't know much about muggles. What if they can tell that I'm you know...different?"

"Luna," Audrina said buttoning up her friend's blouse and brushing off imaginary lint off the blonde's shoulder, "This is New York. People appreciate different."

Making sure that Hermione and Luna would be okay working their shift at "Smoothie King's", Audrina took Ginny's hand in hers as they walked around the mall once or twice in search of jobs for themselves. It seemed as though every place was not looking for new employees or were only looking for one. Well that just wouldn't do. She and Ginny were a packaged deal. After all, she would have to help Ginny interact with the muggles..

Bingo! Audrina spotted a Forever 21 that had a "Help Wanted" sign hanging in the front window. She pulled on her red-headed friend's hand slightly in the direction of the shop and lead her to the front desk.

"Hi! Are there still positions available? We saw the help wanted sign in the front," Audrina said to the girl at the front desk, who was chewing her gum uninterested.

"Yeah," the girl said.

"Can we apply?" Audrina asked lightly while Ginny looked like a fish caught in a net. Audrina squeezed the girl's hand to comfort her. _It must be her first time talking to a muggle, _Audrina thought to herself.

"Yeah," the girl repeated and handed Ginny and Audrina two clip boards with applications and two pens. Audrina took her pen immediately and began to write down her information on the sheet of paper and Ginny took her pen somewhat reluctantly before going to sit by Audrina.

"Wow. Is this what muggles use instead of quills?" Ginny said as Audrina finished filling out her application and Audrina sighed. This was going to be a long month.

* * *

**So what do you guys think? Do you hate me for rewriting? Tell me what you think!**


	15. Chapter 15: Working Gals

"Audrina, I swear if one more customer trashes the dressing room," Ginny warned as she refolded a pile of clothes that women had thrown about the store, "I'm going to hex them all into the next dimension."

It had been nearly three weeks since the girls first arrived in New York City and it had been nearly three weeks of hell for Ginny Weasley. Now she knew why magical folk rarely ever hung out with muggles. She simply couldn't understand them! They were too bloody complicated. One moment they would be fawning over a top and the next, they would be wrinkling it up in their hands and throwing it out of their changing rooms. What was so difficult about buying a shirt?

Audrina, on the other hand, was relishing in the opportunity to interact with other people. She had never had a job before and she had to admit, being a sales associate wasn't as horrible as she originally thought it would be. She was able to work on commission so the more people she was able to dress, the more money she had in the bank. It was her dream job. She spent the entire day playing dress up with paying customers and she got to go home and count the result of her hard work.

"Only one more day, Gin," Audrina assured her as she began to cut down prices on sale items, "Then we're off to go do it big in Texas."

"What's so great about Texas?" Ginny asked as she stacked a pile of newly-folded t-shirts on a shelf in the middle of the shop, "Why are we going there again?"

"Well in Texas they have the best food," Audrina said and felt her mouth water from the thoughts of all the baby back ribs and fried chicken that she would soon have in her possession, "And we're going there because it's practically the last place on Earth that the Death Eaters would think to look for us. It's perfect."

"If you say so," Ginny said in a sing-song voice before greeting a customer who had just walked in. Audrina shook her head at the girl. For someone who hated working for muggles, she sure knew how to fake a smile and make a sale. She made almost as much as her!

_meanwhile...at Smoothie King's.._

"Hermione," Luna called out from the blending station of the smoothie stand, "I think the muggle boys are staring at us again..."

"Don't mind them, Luna," Hermione said as she eyed the shaggy haired, skinny jean clad teenage boys holding their skate boards, obviously watching her and Luna from a distance. She mentally scoffed at the boys. Not to be cocky but Hermione felt that she and Luna were way out of their league.

"Sup, sweet thang?" said a black-haired boy with a lip piercing as he approached the smoothie stand.

"Can I help you with something?" Hermione asked with a forced smile on her face.

"Yeah," the boy said as he bit his lip and looked at the menu for a moment, "You can suck this dick."

Rolling her eyes at the crude boy as his friends snickered in the background, Hermione contemplated whether or not she should throw the smoothie that she had just blended for Luna and herself at him. Deciding that she would only have to deal with this disgusting group of adolescents for one more day, she unhanded the drink and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I have a boyfriend," she told the boy, who seemed unaffected by the news.

"And I don't give a shit," the boy said as he mimicked her stance and crossed his own arms, "Just admit it. You want me."

Against her better judgment, Hermione began to laugh uncontrollably at the boy, who was now looking extremely embarrassed. Not only had he been rejected by Hermione, but it had been done in front of all of his little friends, who were currently laughing at him as well.

"Well, it looks like you won't be receiving any oral from my friend here," said Luna who watched as the scene unfolded.

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"Blaise, are you packed?" asked Draco from his bed. Blaise looked out into the darkness of his room and could see nothing. Draco looked into the direction of Blaise's bed, where he knew the boy was, and waited for his answer.

"Packed and ready," whispered Blaise finally, "When do you think we should go?"

The two Slytherins had planned their escape for almost three weeks now. They would wait until the right time, and then they would notify the Weasley twins via owl to pick them up from Hogwarts in the middle of the night. They would then make their great escape and move on to travel to a place called Texas, that apparently resided in the south of the United States. Neither Draco nor Blaise had ever been there, but according to Snape, it was the perfect place for hiding from Death Eaters. Plus, they would most likely be meeting up with the girls there.

"Snape should notify us when the time is right," Draco said and the two stopped talking when they heard their room mate, Theodore Nott stir in his bed. Of course, Theo was their friend and was fairly harmless, but you couldn't risk it these days. Most of the Slytherins were making it known which side they were on and those who have not yet chosen could go either way. It was best to keep to a small circle and trust no one but yourself.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx

"Good evening, my lord," said Pansy Parkinson as she welcomed the Dark Lord into her home. She had been granted a small leave of absence from school because her father had recently become 'ill'. In reality, she had been called on by Voldemort himself to supply important information on some of his 'loyal' followers.

"Pansy," he nodded and took a seat in the Parkinson's family room, "How is school? Anything _unusual_ happen lately?"

"Not much," Pansy replied and knitted her brows together before remembering something crucial, "Some students have gone missing."

"Missing?"

"Yes," Pansy said nervously. It wasn't everyday that the Dark Lord made a house call. Continuing on, Pansy gulped down her fears, "Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood...and Audrina Alvarez, my lord."

"All at the same time?" the Dark Lord questioned her and the girl nodded weakly at his question, "Well that just won't do. Do you have any theories on why this might be?"

"Audrina had just recently broken it off with Draco," she said and almost wanted to cover her mouth before the words escaped.

"She was romantically involved with Draco Malfoy?" the Dark Lord boomed and stood up from his seat, towering over the Parkinson girl, "I made it clear that she was to belong to no one else but me!"

Pansy was at a loss for words. The usually conniving and vindictive Slytherin cowered in her seat, waiting for the Dark Lord to calm down. She knew that she had spilled a very crucial piece of information to Voldemort and wasn't at all prepared to face his wrath. Oh how she hated being the bearer of bad news.

"This won't do, this won't do," the Dark Lord began to chant and Pansy grew even more frightened. She shouldn't have said anything. The look in Voldemort's eyes told her that things wouldn't turn out well. Not at all well for Draco.

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The next morning, Draco found himself pulled into an abandoned broom closet when he was on his way to Transfiguration with McGonnagall. A hand covered his mouth and he saw from the corner of his eye, a wand locking the door.

"Draco," the voice of Snape entered his ears, "It's time."

"What do you mean it's time?" Draco said, not yet understanding what Snape was telling him. He was still hung up on the fact that he had been practiically abducted on the way to class. McGonnagall was going to kill him for being late.

"I mean that you must leave the school," Snape said urgently, "Someone has informed the Dark Lord that you and Audrina have been..romantically involved. You must alert Mister Zabini and leave tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yes," Snape drawled, "I did in fact, say that tonight is when you must leave."

"Well, who ratted us out?" Draco asked and Snape only shook his head.

"The Dark Lord has a new informant who I strongly believe attends Hogwarts. It is very important that you and Mister Zabini leave no trace when you leave. People will be talking and I haven't any leads on who this new informant may be."

"Now get to class," Snape boomed and Draco ran off in the direction of the Transfiguration classroom.

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"Blaise, could you be any louder?" Draco berated his companion as they tried to carry their luggage through the empty halls of the school, "We're trying to make a quick getaway for Merlin's sake!"

"Sorry," Blaise apologized and then began to dramatically tip-toe out of the front doors of Hogwarts, where Fred and George were waiting silently in their father's flying car.

"Pssst," said a voice from Draco's left. The blonde turned his head so quickly that he nearly got whiplash, and saw that it was only Fred, motioning for them to follow him to where the car was parked. They walked for a moment before seeing George in the driver's seat of the car, waiting for them to hop in so that he could start the ignition. In a moment's time they had hulled their luggage into the trunk of the car and buckled themselves in the back seats. George started the car and then they were off.

Off to good old Houston, Texas.

* * *

**I'm so sorry for not updating as much as I should be. I have been working on my other two stories so much that I nearly forgot about this one! Don't fret, I'll try to update at least once every few days but I'm moving this week and may not be able to keep to my word. I hope you'll forgive me if I fail to update soon. **

**Much love to all of you. -D**


	16. Chapter 16: Hoot If Ya Hear Me

With the combined paychecks of all four girls, Audrina was able to purchase four bus tickets from the New York City bus terminal to Houston, Texas. The girls had spent exactly three weeks working at the mall, brewing smoothies and folding clothes. When it was time to quit their jobs, all four of them reacted differently. Audrina swore that one day she would come back to her first job, just to see how things might have changed. Luna said that she was happy that they would be leaving, but sad that she wouldn't be able to drink more of those delectable smoothies at any time of the day. Hermione merely shrugged and said 'change is good' while Ginny made quite the scene.

_"I QUIT!" Ginny Weasley screamed at the manager of the Forever 21 while customers looked at her in surprise and confusiom, "That's right! I don't have to fold your messy clothes or wait on your stinky customers anymore! I'M FREE!"_

_Audrina had to physically pull the girl from the store to avoid a further confrontation._

And now they were on their way to a new place, where they would have to get new jobs. Audrina just hoped that Ginny would be able to handle it.

The bus ride took a whopping two days. Two days in which the four became frantic. Despite there being several stops along the way, the girls found themselves practically clawing at the windows for a chance at fresh air. At first, it had been exciting for both Ginny and Luna, what with it being their first time ever traveling via bus, but it soon proved to be their least favorite form of travel. Ginny often complained of the stench that came a day into the bus ride as the passengers were not able to shower, let alone did they come prepared with deodorant or body spray. The red-headed Weasley had taken it upon herself to go up and down the isles and offer the muggles who produced the most body odor some of her body mists. She had told them that she had plenty more where that came from and it would be a great improvement on the bus' overall smell. To say the least, some people were offended.

Luna, on the other hand, took a more passive approach. She would mostly keep to herself and try to sleep away the time but being that the trip would take two days, she was not able to do this for long. Soon, she found herself wide awake with nothing to do and no one to talk to, as Hermione, Ginny, and Audrina were asleep.

When they finally arrived in Houston, there was an unforgettable rush of relief that all four of them felt as they stepped foot on the green grass. Hair greasy and skin sweaty, Audrina was the only one who had skipped kissing the ground to retrieve their luggage. The pint-sized latina excused her way through the crowd of not-so-sweet smelling people and reached the luggage compartment with little to no battle scars.

Bunching the straps of all four bags, Audrina pretended to struggle with carrying them. Of course, Hermione had performed a charm on the luggage, making them feel as light as a feather, but it would look just a tad fishy if a small girl like Audrina were able to simply grab four full bags without trouble. Apparently, she had been doing too much of a good job in pretending that she was struggling to carry all of their bags as a familiar face had come to her side and asked if she needed help.

Realizing exactly who it was that was speaking to her, Audrina nearly jumped out of her skin. She quickly hid her face behind her unclean hair and gave him a short-lived "no thanks" before all but running towards the others to get out of there.

"We need to find a motel," Audrina said while trying to make sure that she was not recognized by the person who had asked if she needed help with her bags, "_Now."_

"What's the rush?" Ginny asked as she took a big breath of fresh air and sighed, "Let's just enjoy this, yea?"

"No," Audrina said frantically and in near tears, "We have to go!"

"What's wrong?" Hermione questioned, obviously concerned for the younger girl. She had never seen her like this. Over the span of this trip, Audrina had been their backbone, their guide. She always seemed so unafraid, so determined. She looked so...small.

"Is it that muggle boy looking over at you?" Luna asked and all three girls turned to look at the chocolate-haired muggle in the black t-shirt. As expected, the muggle boy was indeed, looking over at Audrina strangely and analytically.

Hermione had a bad feeling about that boy. Like Crookshanks, she was a great judge of character and with one look at the muggle boy wearing jeans she could tell that there was something not quite right. By the way he was looking over at Audrina, as if he were trying to see through her, to find her secrets, meant that he was bad news. And by the way Audrina was now grasping at her arm, trying to pull her and the others away, she knew that she had been right in her first impression of the boy.

"He's kind of cute," Ginny noted but didn't notice the way Audrina struggled to hold back a whimper. It appeared that the girl was about ready to pull out her own hair. Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were so used to her being laid back and calm that they had no choice but to just listen to her and move along as she pulled them away from the scene.

"Will you tell us what's going on now?" Hermione asked with a comforting hand on Audrina's trembling shoulder, "It's like you've seen a ghost."

"Worse," Audrina said before retracting her lip in between her teeth to stop it from quivering, "That's Jericho. He's...well he's.."

"Your ex boyfriend?" Ginny supplied once they were all inside the cheap looking motel. She looked around the lobby in disgust. The place was absolutely filthy. Would they have to stay here? She sure hoped not.

"No," Audrina said with her eyes looking down at her shoes. It was true. Jericho had not been her boyfriend in the past. He had been the first boy she ever had feelings for. He had been the first boy she had ever kissed. He had been the first boy to ever take her out dancing. He had been the first boy to ever give her those little butterflies in her stomach, just by thinking of him. He had been the first boy to ever make her feel special, pretty, and worthy. And he had taken all that away.

A lone tear fell on the toe of her left shoe, seeping into the material and disappearing as if it was never existent. Audrina felt more prickle at the lower lid of her eyes as she remembered the boy who took everything from her. Everything that she'd thought she'd never get back.

_"I guess this is good night," Audrina said with somewhat of a sad smile gracing her features as she held on to Jericho's hand for one last moment. She relished in the feeling of his warm palm in hers and their fingers intertwining, as if the spaces between their fingers were made to fit one another's. _

_She half-gasped into the unexpected kiss that he left on her lips after she had spoken. His lips were so soft and gentle and the moment had been so completely beautiful that she couldn't help but sigh when it was over. A sigh in which Jericho took as a sign that she wanted more. _

_"Does it have to be good night?" he asked before placing his smooth hands on the skin of her sides, underneath her shirt. Despite feeling somewhat uncomfortable with where he had placed his hands, she still wanted more. She wanted him to feel more of her. She wanted to feel more of him. _

_She shook her head and pulled away from him for a moment to reach into her pocket for the key to her dorm room. Her room mate was out visiting her parents over the break, meaning that she had the room all to herself for the night. It seemed like such a coincidence at the time, she had thought it had been fate. She had thought wrong. _

_Once the door was open, she stepped back to give him room to move inside. She had closed the door behind her and the two fourteen year olds spent the evening to themselves. Audrina should have known better. She should have known not to bring a boy back to her room that night. She should have known that he wouldn't stay. She should have known that was all he wanted. She should have known. _

_The next morning, she woke up to the sounds of Jericho rustling out of bed. She closed her eyes slightly so that it looked as if she were still asleep but immediately regretted it when she opened her eyes to see that he was gone. _

_And she was alone._

"We never dated," she explained whilst wiping away the tears that had escaped from her eyes, "He was just my first."

"I thought Draco was your first," Luna stated and Hermione shot her a look, "You know, with you being so young." The blonde ravenclaw quickly zipped her lips when Hermione gave her another stern look, meaning that this was not the time.

"It's not something that I'm proud of," Audrina whispered so quietly that her companions had to strain their ears just to hear her, "Draco doesn't know. He can never know."

"Why with a muggle?" Ginny finally asked after a long, pregnant pause amongst the girls. All eyes were on Audrina as she lifted her head to speak, revealing her tear stained face and puffy eyes.

"He made me feel beautiful," she said simply as a new batch of hot tears spilled down her face, "If just for a night. I was too young and entirely too foolish to realize what was really going on. All I really understood was that he made me feel the way I did."

"That's quite possibly the saddest thing I've ever heard," Hermione said into Audrina's ear as she hugged the girl fiercely, "Don't you worry. I'm sure we won't be running in to him anymore."

"Yea, and if we do, I'll hex him into oblivion," Ginny said, completely serious. Ginny was fiercely loyal and protective of her friends and family. After a month of living with and working with Audrina, they had become so close that it had physically pained her to see Audrina in this state. It wasn't right.

"But we can't hex muggles," Luna said, bursting Ginny's bubbles. After all, the last thing they all wanted was to be caught by the ministry when they were on the run from Death Eaters. That would completely ruin their plans.

"Well then I'll just have to do it muggle style then," Ginny harrumphed and Audrina let out a small smile behind Hermione's bushy mane. The bookworm finally let her go and with a pat on the back, left to go check them in leaving Audrina and the other two girls to sit on the worn out, springy couch of the motel's lobby.

Hermione politely took her place behind an eager couple of what Americans call 'rednecks' as they shouted at the hotel worker about there being a mistake in their room booking. Apparently, they had asked for a double room and had been given a single. She stood in her spot for ten minutes just listening to the overgrown Southern American folk arguing over what was most likely just a glitch in the hotel's computer.

"Oh for Mer-God's sake!" she yelled, quieting the angry couple and the hotel manager from their unnecessary banter, "I just want to check in! Is that too much to ask?"

Instead of the backlash that Hermione was expecting, the hotel manager simply looked at her with a thankful and humbled smile before inviting her up to the front desk, leaving the sun-poisoned hillbillies in their wake. The small and overly-bleached blonde manager continued to show off her pearly whites to the brightest witch of her age and began to look at the computer screen for the girl's reservation.

"I'm sorry sweet pea," the woman said with a thick Southern accent, "Did you have a reservation?"

"No," Hermione said somewhat embarrassed. She didn't think to make a reservation before they had left for Houston simply because she thought that they would easily find some place with vacancies available at all times. After witnessing the battle between the hotel manager and the couple over a room, she supposed that what had seemed like a good idea at the time, was just plain irresponsible on her part. "Do you happen to have any vacancies by any chance? My friends and I really need a place to stay."

"Well, I hate to break it to ya sweet thang," the Southern belle said apologetically, "But we're almost always packed."

Seeing the sad look on Hermione's face seemed to pull at the strings of the woman's heart because after a breif moment, she was typing fiercely on her little computer.

"I suppose I could look a little harder for a room," the woman said and Hermione felt immensely grateful for the woman's kind gesture. Where most people would just send her in search of another establishment, this woman had taken time out of her hectic day to do her a tiny favor- one that may be in vain. "You'e just so sweet, how could I say no?"

"That's very kind of you," Hermione said as she searched for the name tag on the woman's uniform, "Miss Barbara Jean. Jean is my middle name." Hermione didn't know why she had shared that small fact with the woman, after all, they had just met under the weirdest of circumstances. She didn't even know if the woman cared that Hermione and her shared the same middle name. It just kind of slipped.

"Well ain't that just the cutest thang!" Barbara Jean said elated, "Well, Miss Thang, you got yourself a room. It's a single, but I can have the boys bring up an extra bed for your friends. Is that okay?"

"That would be lovely," Hermione said feeling indebted to her new friend, Barbara Jean, "Thank you so much. Now all we have to do is find jobs and then we're all set." Again, Hermione wasn't sure why she kept saying more than she had to to Barbara Jean, but she did. She supposed that it was because Barbara seemed so warm and inviting. She was the epitome of Southern hospitality.

"Jobs?" Barbara said suddenly with the room key to the girl's motel room in her hand, "Y'all said you needed jobs?"

"Well, yes," Hermione said bashfully, "Just for a short time, I suppose. We're a bit tight on money right now.."

"Why didn't you say so before?" Barbara Jean yelled and Hermione thought she could hear the forgotten couple in the background bumbling on about how they were taking too long, "There's a restaurant down the street that's hiring waitresses. Go down there and tell 'em that Barbara jean sent cha."

"Thanks so much again," Hermione said politely to the friendly motel manager before taking the room key from her hand and moving to press the button to open the elevator. The elevator opened almost instantly and the four girls piled into it with their individual bags. "See you later, Miss Barbara Jean!"

"Alrighty, Miss Thang!" Barbara Jean said before returning to the grumpy couple in the middle of the lobby to discuss the whole room ordeal once more.

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"How much more bloody time do we have to spend with these bumbling idiots before we reach Houston?" Draco whined as he sat back in the stuffy seat of the car that could be the single most infuriating vehicle of all time, "Seriously, Blaise. Why did we even think this was a good idea in the first place?"

It had been a week since they had left Hogwarts for America. Seven days. Seven bloody infuriating days in which Draco had spent listening to story after story about the adventures of the Weasley twins. It seemed that every time he would sigh, there would be another "back in our day" story just beginning. He, for one, was growing tired of it.

The way he was able to tolerate it all thought, was quite alarming in itself. Where was the short-tempered, misbehaved adolescent that he used to be? What had he become? He thought back to the times where everything was simple- well, as simple as it was. He used to be an entirely different person. The old Draco would never in his life, put himself on the line for a girl. The old Draco would never get up and leave everything he ever knew for a greater good. And he damn well knew that the old Draco would never tolerate being in the same bloody car with a couple of fun-loving Weasleys. He had changed for multiple reasons. Maybe it was because he didn't want to be one of the Dark Lord's pawns anymore. Maybe it was because he wanted a brighter future when all of this was over. Or maybe it was because of her.

Oh, what a complete and utter sap he had become.

"Don't worry, mate," Blaise said, slapping a hand on Draco's back, "We'll be there before you know it." When that would be, none of them knew. They had been driving and flying around interchangeably over the span of two weeks and were no where close to Houston, Texas. The things he did for love. And the greater good, he supposed.

"I can't believe I'm on a bloody road trip with you lot," he spat, suddenly feeling more grumpy than before. Not only was he tired of living practically out of a car and only taking breaks overnight so that the twins could rest, but he was feeling bloody lonely. Despite having three other guys with him at all times, Draco couldn't shake thee feeling of utter loneliness from his bones. He missed Audrina. He missed the way she listened to him, even when she was unmistakable exhausted. He missed the way she said nothing and just held him at night. He missed how she would take on the role of 'big spoon' after jumping into bed. He missed her essence. He missed her.

And being trapped in a car with three other guys who haven't showered in days just wasn't cutting it anymore.

"It's almost over," he chanted over and over as he rocked back and forth in his seat with his knees tucked into his chest as he hugged them close to his body.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Malfoy," Fred said in a sing-song voice.

"The fun is just getting started!" shouted Geore gleefully before he turned on the radio to a muggle station that was playing a song that he knew by heart. Taylor Swift's 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'.

Fucking brilliant. That was just what he needed. Another song that reminded him about his unfortunate situation. Well, fuck you too, Taylor Swift.

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"Someone better get their ass moving!" shouted Jim, the owner of the Hooters down the street from the motel that Audrina, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were staying at, "There's a group of three waiting for a table!"

"I got it!" Audrina yelled back at her boss as she saw that her friends had their hands tied with their own customers at the moment. She walked over happily to the group of middle-aged men and made sure that she had her pad and pen on her to take their order. "Table for three? Follow me, please."

It seemed all so surreal to her. Just ten days into their stay in Houston, they had already gotten into the rhythm of things here. Of course, things had been rocky when they first found out exactly where Barbara Jean had sent them for jobs, but that was a different story.

_"She must have given us the wrong directions," Hermione mumbled as she looked at the restaurant in front of her in disbelief, "This is a Hooters."_

_"What's a Hooters?" Ginny asked while looking in the windows of the establishment. She immediately saw a group of women dressed in white tank tops and orange shorts bustling around the restaurant, busily taking orders. "Wow. Those are some cute outfits!"_

_"It sounds fun," Luna added as she too began to look inside the window of the Hooters and witnessed the waitresses doing their jobs. She then saw how much of a tip one girl had personally received from a very happy customer and looked to Hermione in surprise. "They're making a lot of money! That tip was a lot more than the tips we got at Smoothie King's!"_

_"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione said primly, "We can't work there. I won't allow it."_

_"Why not?" Ginny whined as she wanted to wear the uniform for herself. She just knew that it would look much cuter on her than that one girl who had just received a whopping one hundred dollar tip. _

_"Because," Hermione breathed out exasperatedly, "It's degrading and morally wrong. We can't just go around in tiny little shorts and tight little shirts! We're women, not pieces of meat."_

_"Oh come on, Hermione," Audrina urged her friend as the four walked into the Hooters, "It's only for a little while. Plus, we could make some serious cash here.."_

_"Come on, please?" Ginny begged._

_"Pretty pretty please?" Luna said with a pout on her face that was hard to say no to._

_"Oh alright!" Hermione finally gave in and the four began filling out application forms._

"What can I getcha?" Audrina asked the men peppily, just like Jim had told her to. She had learned over the past few days to ignore the men's stares as it was part of the job and if she was extra pleasant, they were extra generous in tips.

"You're a pretty little one," the scraggly looking average joe said to her as he looked as if he was about to grab at her. Luckily, Jim had been walking by and yelled out to the man that there was a strict, no touching rule and that he should keep his hands to himself.

"Thank you," she said politely even though on the inside she was gagging. It's for the tips, she kept telling herself. Only for the tips. "Are you gentlemen ready to order?" She almost lost it when she called them 'gentlemen' but fortunately, she was able to keep her laughter to herself.

She took down their alarmingly long order before retreating back to the kitchens to hand the cook the slip of paper. When she returned, she saw that all three of her friends were not only still busy, but looked swamped in the amount of tables they had to serve.

"Girl, I suggest you get your ass back out there," Jim said wiping sweat off of his brow and then turning to order some poor girl to clean up the floor behind table eight, "There's another group of fellas waiting for a free table."

"You got it, boss," she said mockingly as she saluted him.

What she didn't expect was to see was Jericho Castillo and four of his friends in the waiting area.

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"I'm so huuuuuuuuuuuuungry," Blaise complained because the Weasley twins had refused to stop at any random fast food place until they reached Houston. After a few hours of hearing his own stomach pleading with him to fill it with the new found delicious french fries from this cheap and somewhat grimy place that they had discovered on the way. McDonalds, was it? He wasn't sure. But what he was sure of was that he was hungry.

So hungry that he had threatened to jump out of the moving automobile while George was driving. Of course, he didn't really mean it but he was seriously hungry! You couldn't blame the man for trying. And try he did, but all ended in failure. Not only did Fred and George call him on his bluff, but they had dared him to go through with it, to which he adamantly refused. "Are you bloody mad?" he cried, "I could get hurt!"

Several hours later, the boys had officially entered the city of Houston, Texas. Blaise, nearly passed out from the lack of sustenance, had surprisingly found the energy to excitedly look out the window of the car and point out mostly everything even remotely interesting.

"Oh looky looky!" he shouted, "Draco, mate, it's a cowboy!" At the look of disinterest that Draco shot him upon sharing his observations, Blaise decided to ignore him and continue looking around.

"Hello, Mr. Cowboy!" Blaise yelled out the window and soon Fred and George had joined Blaise in greeting the townspeople.

"You idiots!" Draco chastised, "We're trying to lay _low,_ not let everyone know we're here!"

"Oh, sorry," the three responded as Fred moved into a lot to park, "Hey look," George pointed out, "Does that look like a restaurant to you?"

"Only one way to find out!" Fred replied before jumping out of the car and stretching out his long legs. George mimicked his twin's actions and Blaise rolled out of the car sluggishly while Draco merely stepped out of the vehicle with his head held high, just as a Malfoy should.

The four men coincidentally formed a line as they strutted their way into the establishment that they had assumed to be a restaurant. The place, which was basically a cabin decorated overwhelmingly in orange, was quite busy as men could be seen coming and going. The men seemed to be pleased with the food that they had received from the restaurant and Draco noted the almost creepy smile on an elder man's face as he swung his bagged dinner back and forth and finally made it to his car.

It wasn't until Draco entered the restaurant for himself that he realized why those men had been so giddy. It wasn't the food (although he hoped that it was satisfactory enough for his tastes) that put a smile on their faces. It was the service.

As he took a look around the place, he counted over ten waitresses in tiny orange shorts that hugged their bottoms like a second skin. Their tops didn't seem to be covering much as there was plenty of cleavage pouring out for everyone to see. He didn't know whether to cover his eyes or just take it all in. He went with the latter. Audrina wasn't here to berate him so why not?

"Hiya!" a girl with a name tag that read 'Jenna' said as she approached the four men in the waiting area, "Table for four? Follow me, please!"

"Whatever you say, angel face," Fred said as he hurriedly followed the beach blonde girl to their table. He appreciated the view of her bum bouncing as she walked so much that he nearly knocked another waitress over.

"Sorry, miss," he apologized and George and Blaise cackled at his misstep while Draco merely scoffed at his foolish behavior. The small brunette waitress seemed not to notice the fact that she was nearly knocked off her feet by Fred Weasley as she did not even acknowledge him. She seemed busy and simply ignored his apology to bustle her way to the kitchens.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

Audrina shook her hair out in front of her a bit to use it as a makeshift disguise for the time being. She had no choice but to greet the group of men waiting for a table and lead them to their seats, but for now she didn't necessarily have to show her face. Maybe she could ask a favor from one of the girls. Just this once.

"Hi," she said timidly, "Five? Follow me, please."

The five men followed her, confused at the unusually cold greeting they had received and looked at one another with weird looks. "She's not very pleasant," she heard one of the guys whisper to another and she inwardly cringed. She knew that voice. How could she forget?

She quickly motioned for them to sit while still hiding behind her hair and hurriedly handed out the menus before telling the group that she'd be right back to take their orders.

"Sheesh, I don't think she likes us very much," one of Jericho's friend noted as he flipped through the plastic menu.

"Maybe she's just really backed up. It's packed in here," Jericho said to his friend while he looked in the direction Audrina had disappeared into, "She seems kinda familiar."

Audrina let out a ragged breath as she finally reached the kitchen. She shakily checked her other table's order and put on a fake smile so that she could bring the older men their food. They thanked her graciously and she smelled a generous tip in the near future. After a few minutes of small talk, Audrina decided that she had done enough stalling and since she hadn't found anyone to take her spot, she would have to face them herself. Grabbing a hooters baseball cap off the counter, Audrina whipped her long, thick hair into a ponytail and pulled it through the back of the cap. She then hid herself behind the counter and charmed her name tag to say "Audrey" instead of Audrina so that Jericho wouldn't suspect that it was her. If he even remembered who she was.

She wiped the tiny droplet of sweat that had formed on her brow and fiddled with her uniform to make sure it wasn't crinkled. She shakily took another big breath and walked over to their table where she was sure they would be ready to order.

"Hi!" she said with fake enthusiasm, "Ready to order? What can I get you gentlemen?"

In her best American accent, she tried to disguise the nervousness in her voice. It appeared that her accent had worked because the men didn't suspect anything. Jericho, who had been wary of her in the beginning because he had thought she seemed familiar, had no idea who she really was.

"What's good here?" one of Jericho's friends asked her, "Besides you of course."

Ignoring the boy's not-so-subtle advance towards her, she answered his question as if she hadn't noticed that he was hitting on her.

"The wings are awesome here. You should definitely try them!" she said cheerily before taking out her pad and pen to write down their actual order. She went around the table once to find out what each guy wanted to drink and eat one by one. It almost felt as if she could get away with seeing Jericho one last time without having to address the fact that he had broken her ickle little heart years ago.

But of course, it didn't work out that way.

"I swear I know you from somewhere," Jericho insisted when she came back with their drinks, "I just can't quite put my finger on it."

"I think you may have the wrong girl," Audrina laughed his comment off as she handed the soft drinks to the members of the table, "I really don't think we know each other."

"I could've sworn..." he began but his voice trailed off as he lost himself in his own thoughts. Audrina gave him a small smile before moving to check if their food was ready but stopped cold in her tracks when she heard him call out her name. "Audrina?"

It felt as if she couldn't move, let alone breathe. She wished she could, because maybe then she could have pretended like she never heard him. Alas, that wasn't the case.

Jericho had stood from his seat and placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look at him. When she finally turned and he got a good look at her face, his suspicions were confirmed.

"I knew it was you!" he laughed and Audrina could feel herself wanting to cower away. After he had left her cold and alone that night, she had never wanted to see him again. Yet here he was, laying a hand on her shoulder and laughing freely- just the way he used to. "How have you been?"

"Oh you know," she said uneasily, "Working."

"We should catch up," he suddenly suggested and Audrina didn't know what to say. She had never anticipated that she would ever see him again. She had never anticipated that he would be this..nice. "Come on, I'll take you out sometime and we can talk."

"I don't know.." she said when he took her hand in his for the briefest of moments. She had instinctively removed her hand from his and cradled it to her body as if he had burned her.

"I just want to talk. Promise."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Jericho," she said, "I'll bring you all your food."

With that, she retreated back into the kitchens, where she took her sweet time checking to see if their food was ready.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx

Draco Malfoy was completely and utterly bored. He sat at his table uninterested with the conversation that seemed to be going on around him. Fred had been complimenting their waitress, Jenna, left and right and she had been totally enamored with his "cute lil' accent". The two then began to talk each other up so much that Jenna had forgotten that she was working and should be taking down their order. Americans.

He had taken to observing the room around him and the people that were in it. He noticed a group of five that sat across from Draco and his group that was quite loud. Deciding to eavesdrop since they were being so loud anyway, Draco listened in.

"How do you know Audrey?" one of the men in the group asked another.

"Audrina," a young man with dark hair corrected his friend and Draco ears perked in interest. Could they be talking about his Audrina? "I met her when I was visiting family back in Costa Rica." Draco didn't hear this part as he was too busy looking around to see if Audrina was really there.

"Did you bang her?" one of the dark haired guy's friends asked him, "I know you did. An ass like that? I know you banged her."

"Yeah!" another friend joined in, "Don't lie, Jericho."

"Okay okay," the young man whose name was Jericho said, "I may have banged her."

"Knew it!"

"Dude, she's so hottttttt."

"I know," Jericho said smugly and Draco wanted to punch him in his smug little face. Not only because he was a complete arsehole, but because he saw his girlfriend, Audrina, walking towards their table with food.

Hungry and upset with the news he had just heard, Draco jumped on his feet to confront her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx

"Alright guys," Audrina said as she lowered her tray onto the table, "Here's your food."

The boys sent her their thanks and a couple winks before grabbing their food off of her tray and moving to dig in. The whole situation made her uncomfortable and she was looking forward to being able to leave them to their food and move on with her life.

"Audrina!" she heard a familiar voice scream out. When she looked in the direction that the voice came from, she saw a livid Draco Malfoy coming her way. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" she asked confused. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or not. Here she saw Draco Malfoy before her. Was this real?

"You slept with _him?"_ he spat and she looked back at the boy Draco had pointed out behind her, "Did you?"

"Draco, it's not like that," she said, willing him to lower the volume of his voice as other people in the restaurant began to stare, "Listen to me."

"Listen to you?" he shouted, "You leave me and I find you here shagging someone else? Why on earth would I listen to what you have to say?"

"Draco, please," she pleaded with him, tears ready to pour. "I'm sorry!"

Hearing the bickering couple, George, Fred, and Blaise had turned their attention to Draco and Audrina. They sat at their table simply watching Draco yell about Audrina sleeping around on him since they had nothing else to do. Blaise had ordered for them and since Jenna was now bustling around somewhere, this was about as exciting as it was going to get.

"Wait.." Fred said as he realized exactly who Draco was fighting with, "If Audrina's here, doesn't that mean the rest of the girls are here too?"

"Luna!" Blaise cried.

"Hermione!" George yelled.

The two then began to run around the restaurant in search of their girlfriends, whom they had not seen in over a month now.

"You're sorry?" Draco cried out nearly pulling out his hair. He had yet to notice the streaks of mascara running down her cheeks as a result of her tears. "You shagged someone else and not only did you not bother to tell me yourself but I had to find out from him! He was bloody bragging about how he 'may have banged' you. I cannot believe you would do this to me!"

"Let me explain-" she started but Draco wouldn't let her finish.

"No," he said coldly, "I proposed to you. I bloody _proposed _to you. And you turn me down to come here and _screw _some other bloke? Do you even know how much that kills me?"

"Draco-"

"No. You don't," he continued to ignore her and at this point, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny had heard the yelling and found the two in the middle of the restaurant, "I spent weeks trying to figure out why you said no to me. Now I finally understand."

"It's not like that!" she finally screamed and Jericho came up behind her.

"Look, dude," he began, "It's not what you think."

"You're really not helping, Jericho!" she yelled at him and forgot all about where she was and who could hear her. She was so distressed and overwhelmed that she just exploded in emotion and did something that she should have done years ago.

"You had _sex _with me, two fucking years ago," she started off and pointed her finger in his face, "And you come here, where I work, and start fucking gloating about it? I was fourteen! And you left me there, alone! Is that something to be proud of? Because I'm not! I'm not proud!"

"Hey-"

"Shut up," she said coldly, "I'm not finished. And the one relationship I was able to build with someone after you thoroughly fucked up my thoughts on relationships is now in shambles because _you_ wanted to show off to your stupid little friends. Are you kidding me? I don't think I've ever hated anyone as much as I hate you."

She took a breath before continuing, fire blazing in her green eyes.

"And you know what?" she asked him, "I never wanted to see you ever again. I wanted to be able to move on with the rest of my life and forget about how you took my virginity and left me the next day. I wanted to pretend like it never happened."

She glared at him for a moment before taking off the baseball cap that she had put on to hide her face from him previously. She all but ripped the hair tie from her hair and untied the Hooters pouch that contained her pad and pen and threw them on the counter on her way out of the restaurant.

"Small dick motherfucker," she mumbled under her breath and exited the establishment for the last time.

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"Mate?" Blaise tried to get Draco's attention after Luna, Ginny, and Hermione had ended their shifts, "Draco, are you okay?"

"I thought I was her first."

"I know you did, mate," Blaise sympathized with his friend, "I know you did."

* * *

**I'm so sorry for the wait. School is starting soon and I'm still trying to get moved in. I'm starting my junior year at a new school and it's all very stressful. But despite all of that, I feel very good about this chapter. Chapter seventeen up next Saturday. I promise!**

**Happy reading. **

**-D**


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